Snakes, Weasels, and Foxes
by yukipup
Summary: So Sasuke moves to the city of Konoha with his brother, Itachi. There they meet Naruto, a hyperactive and cheery, yet lonely boy. The problem? They both like him. Which Uchiha will get the fox? ItaxNaru, SasuxNaru
1. A LifeChanging Experience?

**Chapter 1: A Life-Changing Experience?**

Naruto Uzumaki sat at his desk at Kohana High between his friends Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara. Their teacher, Iruka Umino, was writing on the board while the class quietly took notes. Naruto had stopped actually writing long ago because he preferred to just read the information off the board. He just seemed to retain it better that way.

Sakura noticed this and turned to her blond friend. "Naruto, you're going to get yelled at by Iruka-sensei again."

Naruto merely glanced at the pink-haired girl next to him. "Aw, Sakura, Iruka-sensei doesn't care. I'm passing this class with a B anyway."

Shikamaru turned his dark-eyed stare on the two next to him. "Naruto's got a point, Sakura. This class is such a drag. Iruka-sensei could bore an anbu to death."

"Or the Hokage!" Naruto chimed in. The two burst out into loud laughter, causing Iruka to turn around.

"Hey! Pay attention! Naruto, Shikamaru, that means shut up and copy the notes!"

Naruto sighed and laid his head down on the desk. "I give up," he muttered apathetically. Shikamaru nodded and laid his head down as well and they both drifted off into a light slumber.

***

Naruto was suddenly awakened by the sound of the bell and Sakura standing up next to him. He groaned sleepily as he opened his eyes and was blinded by the sunlight that flooded through the window. Shikamaru was still sleeping soundly on the other side of Sakura's chair.

'_Better leave him alone_,' Naruto thought to himself as he picked up his backpack and left the room.

Naruto Uzumaki was a lean, blond-haired boy of sixteen with clear, bright blue eyes. His parents had died when he was a child (for a reason that is unknown only to him), so now he lived with Iruka and one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. Not at the same time, of course. He lived with Iruka on the weekdays when he had to go to school, but on weekends, Iruka and another one of Naruto's teachers, Kakashi Hatake, left to go on trips to Kami-knows-where for the whole weekend. Then Iruka would come back, take Naruto home, and the cycle would start again.

It was a Friday afternoon and Naruto was heading home to Iruka's house. He knew it would be the same as any other Friday. Naruto would get home and eat a bowl or two of ramen, Iruka would get home, rush to get ready, Kakashi would come to pick Iruka up, Naruto would head to Jiraiya's, then at night, Jiraiya would go out to the local nightclub. It was the same story from week to week. Naruto didn't mind that much. There were times when he enjoyed the quiet, but today, for some reason, the feeling wasn't the same.

Naruto sighed as he arrived home, opened the door, walked inside, threw his backpack on the ground, and walked to the kitchen. His sadness soon became frustration as he fumbled through the cabinet in search of a cooking pot.

"AH!" he screamed, running his fingers though his hair. "I can't find a pot!"

"Need help, Naruto?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

Naruto turned around to see Iruka smiling down at him. His eyes held a gleam of somewhat of a fatherly figure as Naruto stared up at him. "Iruka," Naruto said quietly. Then he shook his head roughly and looked back at Iruka in frustration. "I can't find a pot!" he wailed. "I need ramen!"

Iruka chuckled softly before opening a drawer under the oven. "They're right where they've always been, Naruto," the older man said gently.

"Hmph," Naruto pouted. His eyes suddenly lit up hopefully. "Hey, Iruka, are you staying here tonight? Huh? Are ya?"

Iruka shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not, Naruto. Kakashi told me we're going somewhere extra special this weekend so--"

"Where do you and Kakashi-sensei have to go every weekend anyway?" Naruto interrupted.

A blush immediately formed across Iruka's face. "Uh….well…" he stammered nervously. He was saved by the ringing of the doorbell. "That's Kakashi! I'll see you Sunday night, Naruto! Be good and say hi to Jiraiya for me!" And with that he was out of the door in less than a heartbeat. Outside, Kakashi stared quizzically as Iruka shut the door behind him.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked curiously. Iruka couldn't help but blush again as he looked up at Kakashi's face hidden beneath a mask and his Leaf Village headband. As far as he knew, he was the only one who had the pleasure of seeing Kakashi's revealed face every weekend…and this one would be no different. Iruka shook his head, forcing the blush away, then looked back at the silver-haired man.

"Naruto's asking silly questions," Iruka answered simply.

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

"No!" Iruka burst out. "Why would I?"

"Good." Kakashi clearly relaxed and his one dark blue eye glittered mischievously as he continued. "Then we can have our fun after all."

***

Back inside, Naruto sat alone at the table, listening to the ramen noodles boil on the stove. That was the first time Naruto asked Iruka what he and Kakashi did every weekend and it would certainly be the last. That blush and nervous manner explained it all. Naruto shivered at the thought of his guardian and favorite teacher in bed together and suddenly he had lost his appetite. Naruto put the uneaten ramen in the refrigerator and went upstairs.

When Iruka had taken Naruto into his home, he had set aside a room for his adoptive child. Naruto had done whatever he wanted to the room so that he felt at least a little bit at home. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas and a couple days' worth of underwear and clothing. Sure, Naruto had his own room at Jiraiya's, but the pervy sage was always up to something and Kami knows what he did to Naruto's clothes when the teen wasn't around.

After he finished, Naruto started on his way through Konoha to Jiraiya's house. The city was just beginning to awaken with the night. Somehow, Naruto knew this night would be a life-changing experience. He didn't know why or how, but somehow he just knew. He was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts when he ran into someone stopped in front of him.

"Ow…sorry about…that," Naruto had looked up and got caught in the most beautiful onyx eyes he had ever seen. The owner of the eyes was another teen, about Naruto's age with black hair that spiked in the back but trailed down to his chin on both sides of his face. His face was getting to be in the shape of a man's but was still round enough that a person could see he was still young. His body was lean and muscular but hidden underneath a dark blue shirt and white shorts. Naruto couldn't help but stare at the captivating form in front of him…that is until he spoke.

"Yeah, way to go, loser. Why don't you do us both a favor and watch where you're going?" And with that the boy turned and walked away.

Naruto stood stunned. What the heck just happened? Yeah, he hadn't been watching where he was going, but did that give that _stranger_ the right to insult him? So much for a life-changing experience. Naruto sighed and continued on his way.

***

In a nearby alley, a black-haired boy watched Naruto walk away. He hadn't meant to sound so…arrogant, but it was the best he could do after what happened.

He had been standing, casually staring at the stars like he used to do in his old home when someone ran into him. He had turned, thinking it was just some kid who had eaten a little too much candy and became mesmerized in crystal blue eyes. He had no idea who that blond kid was, but for some reason, just being in his presence had calmed him.

The teen's brooding was suddenly interrupted by a man walking up to him. The newcomer looked almost exactly like the teen except his hair was longer in the back and was pulled into a tight ponytail. "There you are, Sasuke," the man scolded the teen. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Cut the act, Itachi," he said coolly. "You wouldn't care if I fell into a ditch and got eaten alive by rats. In fact, you'd probably laugh your ass off all the way to hell." Itachi enjoyed playing the role of "big brother" just to get on Sasuke's nerves. Itachi was twenty-three, seven years older than Sasuke and, even though they really were brothers, they hated each other's guts. When Sasuke was younger, Itachi had taken the pleasure of doing countless things to embarrass him; one of which happened when Sasuke was seven. Itachi had spread it around that Sasuke would go around to the back of the school and jack off to a bunch of guys between classes. Of course, Sasuke was only seven and didn't even know what the term meant; not to mention he only had _one_ class at the time. Nevertheless, even though most people quickly reasoned that it was all a rumor spread by big brother, a certain group believed every word: Itachi's band of lackeys. In fact, they were probably the only _real_ friends Itachi had…and everyone knew that Itachi was the gay one anyway.

Itachi laughed amused. "You're probably right. But if I go to hell, I'm dragging you down with me."

"You're such a bastard," replied Sasuke. "What d'you want anyway?"

Sasuke's brother didn't even try to hide the devilish smirk on his face. "Mom said to bring you home."

Sasuke felt the heat rise in his body. The nerve of this guy! He knew as well as Sasuke their parents had died a long time ago by "forces unseen" as the elders had called it. The "forces" were said to have been deep inside the two brothers, so they were driven from the Uchiha Clan residence; nearly a day's train ride away. Itachi's little band of followers, the Akatsuki as they called themselves, had been the only ones to follow, afraid of what might happen to them if it was found out they were buds with the Uchihas. So now, their whole family despised them and they were forced to live here in Konoha. So why bring their dead mother into something so pointless? Realization hit him like a kunai to the head. "You brought them…didn't you?"

Itachi's smirk broadened and Sasuke groaned in annoyance. Almost simultaneously, a group of guys walked up behind Sasuke. The closest one, a guy with long, blond hair pulled into a ponytail, pulled Sasuke into a tight bear hug and mimicked a woman's voice.

"Oh, Sasuke, honey! I've missed you so much! How could you worry your mother so?"

All of the Akatsuki laughed as Sasuke squirmed out of the guy's grip. "Let go, Deidara! Kami knows you probably _are_ gay."

Deidara narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Actually I consider myself a friend with benefits, if you get my drift, yeah."

Sasuke ignored the perverted comment and turned back to Itachi. "You'd think you'd have at least _some_ respect for our mother," he stated as he walked away, leaving the group laughing.

As Sasuke walked, he shivered as he thought about his brother's friends. First there was Kisame. Sasuke swore he must've been a fish in another life or something. He sure looked like it with his pale blue skin and small, piercing black eyes. Then there was Tobi…Sasuke assumed the guy must've had some kind of mental problem the way he was always randomly yelling about how much of a good boy he was. Sasori was okay, but the guy had some weird feddish with puppets so Sasuke usually steered clear. Kakuzu and Zetsu weren't so bad either. Kakuzu wore a head cover and a mask and barely said anything unless it was an insult, while Zetsu had a weird feddish of his own with plants. But, hey, at least they were tolerable. Konan was the only girl member and a royal pain, but thankfully, she stayed near a guy called Pein who had piercings all over his body for reasons Sasuke didn't even _want_ to know. He hadn't seen Konan tonight so Sasuke guessed that she had decided to do some shopping or something instead of bothering her best friend's little brother. Then there was Deidara. Sasuke swore the guy was really a girl, but didn't say anything in case he was to get mauled. _'If anyone saw him in a dress,'_ Sasuke thought,_ ' they'd probably agree.'_ The guy had to be the drag king of the century. Finally, there was Hidan. Now Hidan was crazy…end of story. He always complained about his religion, but at the same time insisted that he had to go by it's standards, no matter how much he hated it. It made no sense at all and pissed them all off at times…especially Kakuzu. And he had this weird thing about not wearing shirts. But hey, the guy was a pretty damn good guitar player so Sasuke didn't have that big of a complaint against him.

Sasuke's feet had led him home much to his confusion. He hadn't even remembered walking that way. Heaving a heavy sigh, he unlocked the door and went inside and straight to his room. It was Friday night, which meant Itachi and the Akatsuki would be out till dawn then sleep the day away. '_That's where we got our name,_' Itachi had told him. _'From the dawn of day.'_

"Whatever," Sasuke scoffed. He could care less if his brother got laid and knocked up all in one night. Hell, it might even do the bastard some good. Sasuke rolled over on his bed so he was lying on his stomach. No matter how much he hated his brother though, Sasuke had to admit that Itachi was easier to approach than he was himself…on a good day anyway. Either way, though, it was another lonely night for Sasuke. He closed his eyes sleepily, then jerked them open as an image of the blond-haired kid popped into his head.

"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered to himself. He had to admit he'd thought of people before, but it was usually of his parents being alive or the joyous murder of the Akatsuki, but never of a guy he had run into that same day. But there was something about those crystalline blue eyes; something he couldn't ignore. Something like pain, remorse…loneliness. No! Sasuke shook his head violently. Why was he thinking about a guy? But he couldn't help it. He had to find out who the blond-haired kid was…and he'd start Monday: his first day at Kohana High.


	2. It May Not Be So Bad

**Chapter 2: It May Not Be So Bad**

Naruto stood in front of a two-story building that had toad ornaments decorating the lawn: Jiraiya's house. Naruto let out a long sigh as he rang the door bell which responded with a woman's seductive voice: "Jiraiya…visitor…ah…"

"Oh brother," Naruto groaned as he heard crashing from inside and soon the door opened to reveal a husky man in his 50s with white hair standing in a bathrobe. Naruto looked up at the man with disgust. "Jeez, pervy sage. You doorbell's so weird."

"Naruto!" the man exclaimed. "Iruka off with Kakashi as usual?"

Yep," responded Naruto as he walked past Jiraiya and into the house. He stopped outside his bedroom and turned back to Jiraiya. "I'm going to bed."

"Already?" Jiraiya asked. "Well, okay! I'm off to see the ladies!"

Naruto watched as a whistling Jiraiya went to his room and shut the door. Naruto sighed and went into his own room and flopped down on the bed. His mind involuntarily flickered back to the dark-haired teen. Who was he? And why did he act like such a jerk after a small run-in? Naruto decided now was not the time to wonder as he slowly crawled into his covers and his last conscious thought was of Jiraiya closing the door as he went off to "see the town".

***

Monday morning came faster than usual for Naruto as he woke up to find himself in his room at Iruka's house. _'He must've come to pick me up,_' Naruto thought sleepily. He yawned deeply as Iruka peeked into the room.

"All right, Naruto. Time to get up. Breakfast is on the table and I'll see you later at school, okay?"

"What?" Naruto called as Iruka turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

Iruka stopped and smiled, a small blush forming. "Today's September 15th; Kakashi's birthday. I wanna surprise him with something."

"Tsk." Naruto looked away annoyed. "Figures," he mumbled. "You never have time for me anymore."

The statement completely caught Iruka off guard as he looked at the troubled blond. Okay, so maybe he thought of Kakashi almost every waking moment of his life, and sometimes in his dreams…Let's face it, Kakashi had him whipped. But surely he hadn't _completely_ forgotten Naruto…had he? He was snapped out of his thoughts as Naruto sighed, picked up his backpack, and got ready to leave.

"Wait, Naruto," Iruka called after him. The lonely look in those blue eyes tore at Iruka's heart as they would a father. There had to be _something_ he could do to make it up to Naruto. He smiled warmly as an idea finally hit him. "How 'bout I take you out to wherever you want to go tonight after school? Maybe Ichiraku?"

Naruto's eyes lit up immediately. "Ichiraku?! Really? You mean it? Thanks, Iruka! You better go see Kakashi or whatever, bye!"

Iruka stared confused as the hyperactive blond sped out of the house and up the street then chuckled softly. People say that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach…that was definitely the case with Naruto.

***

Naruto burst through the school doors joyfully as he went to find Shikamaru. He found him talking to Ino, a blond-haired kunoichi, and Choji, a slightly chubby kid whose favorite snack were potato chips. Choji was munching on a bag of barbeque-flavored potato chips and offering some to Shikamaru when Naruto walked up.

"What's up?" he asked the group.

Ino turned excitedly toward him. "There's a hot new guy at our school!" she squealed.

"Really?" Naruto asked. His thoughts went back to a certain guy he had run into Friday night. He couldn't be that lucky, could he?

"Yeah," Shikamaru responded boredly. "And all the girls are going crazy. It's such a drag."

"What does he--" Naruto began before being cut of by a nearby door being pushed open. Ino squealed again, this time more high-pitched. "It's him!"

Naruto's eyes widened in amazement. "No way," he whispered as he saw the Hokage, Tsunade, walk out of the room with the same dark-haired kid that haunted Naruto's thoughts. "it's you! " he yelled without thinking.

The new kid turned his head and Naruto thought he saw relief flicker in his eyes, but it soon disappeared and a smirk overcame the guy's face instead. "Oh, look…the loser."

Tsunade looked down at Naruto. "Do you know Sasuke, Naruto?" she asked.

"Sasuke?" Naruto repeated quietly as he looked back at the guy standing in front of him..

"That's right," Sasuke said, still with a smirk planted on his lips. "Sasuke Uchiha. Sorry, but I have to get to class. I don't have time to deal with losers.

Ino watched Sasuke leave with hearts in her eyes as Naruto exploded. "That's it! I don't know what the hell your problem is, Uchiha, but from now on, we're rivals! You hear me?! Ri—" He was cut off by the bell and Shikamaru tugging his arm.

"Come on, Naruto. He's not worth your time."

Naruto reluctantly agreed and he and the others went to class.

***

Sasuke sat at his desk bouncing his leg impatiently as the students filed into the room. He had done it again; he acted like a complete jackass in front of the guy that he couldn't get out of his head.

"Oh man," he mumbled as he laid his head down on the desk.

"Excuse me," a girl voice spoke, "is someone sitting here?"

Sasuke lifted up his head to see a pink-haired girl looking at him. He looked around one final time, hoping to see Naruto again and sighed when he didn't. "No," he answered at last.

The girl sat down and was quiet for a little while, but it didn't last. "Hi, I'm Sakura."

"Sasuke…" he introduced himself without much emotion. It looked as though Sasuke wasn't going to be lucky and have Naruto in his class.

Conversation between him and Sakura was cut short as a familiar hyperactive form walked into the room followed by Iruka.

"Come on, Iruka!" Naruto was complaining loudly.

"I told you," Iruka said firmly. "When we're not at home, I'm Iruka-_sensei_."

"You're changing the subject!"

Sasuke couldn't help but smile slightly at the ball of energy trying to persuade the teacher to do what ever it was he wanted. It reminded him of himself when he was younger before…His thoughts were suddenly broken when he noticed Naruto staring right at him. Actually, it was more like _glaring_, Sasuke realized. But why would Naruto be glaring at him? All he did was call him a loser a couple times. That couldn't have made him too mad…could it?

"Hey, you, Sasuke!" Naruto called out.

Sasuke held in a breath as the students' heads began turning curiously toward him. He never was one to like big crowds…especially when they were staring at him. He remained calm on the outside, but on the inside, his body was on fire. "What, loser?" he answered simply.

"Why're you sitting next to Sakura?! That's _my_ spot!"

Sasuke turned his head to look at the girl next to him. Sakura was glaring back at Naruto as if he was some unwanted animal or something. "But she—"

"Mind your own business, Naruto," Sakura broke in before Sasuke could explain. "You can sit somewhere else today. You won't die."

The intensity of Naruto's glare was becoming a bit more than Sasuke could handle so he stood up, still with his calm disposition. "Whatever. Take your seat back, dobe. I don't want it anyway." Then he walked up one more level to the row of seats above the one Naruto had claimed and sat down.

Naruto walked up and sat next to Sakura then grinned at her. She looked away angrily and picked up her pen. "Thanks a lot, Naruto."

Sasuke noticed the hurt look that overcame the blond's face and he wanted to go comfort him, but he seriously doubted that Naruto would be all that welcoming.

Iruka finally got control of the class and began writing on the board. "All right, guys. Time for a project." Collective groans were heard before Iruka had even finished the word "project". "Anyway," he continued, ignoring the protests. "I have put you into groups of two and together you shall create a family."

Shocked gasps came from the students as they looked at each other. Iruka gave his desk an aggravated punch at the students' responses. "Not like that!" he yelled. "One of you will be the husband and the other will be the wife. I don't care how you decide it and, personally, I don't want to know. Each 'family' will receive a flour bag that will be your child. You can have as many children as you want, but you must have at least one, and you can't let any harm come to your children at all…otherwise child services will give you a hefty fine. Anyway, each 'family' will be given a starting amount of $5,000 and both parents must work together in order to budget your money between yourselves, your children, and any other payments that you may consider. That includes house payments, water, electricity…yes, Kiba?"

Sasuke turned to look at a guy wearing an Eskimo-like jacket sitting by Naruto. "Do we get real money?" Kiba asked.

"No," Iruka answered. "You'll receive a checkbook to keep track of the money you spend and earn. You can get real-life prices by going around to the local stores to determine the amount you will use."

"But what about _earning_ money?" Sakura asked.

"I was getting there. When you've separated into your 'families', each person will draw a job from this bowl up here." He picked up a glass bowl holding folded pieces of paper. "Whatever job you draw, you will go to that place and volunteer. Keep track of the hours you spend there because that will determine how much money you earn. Now, any more questions?"

The students shook their heads and began talking quietly to one another about who they wanted to be paired with. Sasuke couldn't help but notice the longing gaze that came from, not Sakura (although she was longing, too), but Naruto. The blond noticed that Sasuke was looking at him, though, and quickly adopted a glare and turned away. Iruka picked up a piece of paper and turned back to the class. "All righty. Now for your pairs. Kiba and Ino…Hinata and Sakura…Sasuke and Naruto."

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed. He was both angry and excited. He'd finally get to find out more about Sasuke, but the guy hated him…and they hardly knew each other!

Iruka looked up at Naruto firmly. "The pairings are final, Naruto. No complaining. Now where was I? Oh yes…Shikamaru and Choji…."

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto to see the blond still gaping at Iruka who had just finished the pairings and was calling up groups. Sasuke decided he'd better go talk to Naruto, no matter how reluctant the blond may be. He sighed then stood up and walked over to Naruto.

"So, loser…how many children should we have?"

"Do you have to say that so casually?" Naruto asked wearily.

"Better decide fast," Sasuke warned, glancing at Iruka. Soon, Iruka got to them. "Sasuke and Naruto?"  
"Let's get this over with," Naruto sighed as he stood up and they both walked down to Iruka's desk.

"How may children?" asked Iruka, almost a little too enthusiastic.

"Only one," mumbled Naruto.

Iruka chuckled softly then handed Sasuke a checkbook and a flour sack. "Don't forget to pick a name," he teased as the boys walked away.

The bell soon rang to signal the end of class. It was now lunch time and the students ad a whole hour to do whatever they wanted. Naruto and Sasuke walked out with Naruto holding their new "baby" "So…"Naruto started. "Who's the wife?"

"Dunno," Sasuke replied. "Let's flip a coin." He dug around in his pocket before pulling out a quarter. "Okay, heads you're the wife, tails, I'm the wife. Ready?"

"I guess…"

Sasuke flipped the coin and both boys waited as Sasuke caught the quarter, looked at the result, then smirked at Naruto. " I now pronounce you the bride," he said teasingly.

"Aw man!" Naruto groaned. "So is this thing a boy or a girl?" he asked, holding up the flour sack.

"Girl, I guess. And her name will be—" _'Akemi,'_ said something in Sasuke's head. _'It means dawn.'_ Oh hell no…it reminded him too much of the Akatsuki and Sasuke would _not_ give his brother that pleasure. So what would the kid's name be? "Kohana."

"Kohana?" Naruto echoed.

"Yeah. Rearrange the letters in Konoha and replace an 'o' with an 'a' and you get Kohana. 'Little flower'."

"Well, the 'flour' part fits," Naruto mumbled looking at the bag in his hands.

"Not that kind of flour, dobe, a _flower. _Like a plant."

"Oh," replied Naruto. "I knew that."

Sasuke rolled his eyes then turned to leave. "Hey! Where're you goin'?" Naruto called after him. Sasuke stopped and turned around. "I'm hungry. I'm getting lunch."

"Oh, uh…"Naruto hesitated before asking the next question. "Can I come?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever." He led the way through town until they came to the Ichiraku ramen shop.

"Oh yeah! Ramen!" yelled Naruto. They walked inside and ordered their food. Sasuke got sushi rolls while Naruto got a huge bowl of ramen with everything you could imagine in it (that's inside reason anyway). Once they were done eating, Naruto began to pull out his wallet, but was stopped by Sasuke. "Don't bother. I'll buy."

"Huh? Uh…thanks Sasuke."

Sasuke held in a blush. "Don't mention it, _really_."

As he took out the money to give it to the waitress, he noticed Naruto still staring at him. "What?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing," Naruto replied. "Except that I was pretty sure you hated me."

Sasuke looked away. "How stupid. I don't _hate_ you, just…" he searched around in his mind for the right choice of words, but just gave up. "DON'T ASK STUPID QUESTIONS!" And with that he stomped out of the shop.

Naruto sat puzzled. _'But I didn't ask a question…' _he thought to himself. "Oh well," he sighed. He walked out of the shop and was shocked to see Sasuke standing there outside, waiting for him. "Sasuke? I thought you went on back to school."

"I told you I didn't hate you," Sasuke replied. "Now let's go."

Lunch was just ending as the two headed back to the classroom. The bell to end lunch rang and Sasuke noticed that Iruka was still gone."

"Where's Iruka-sensei?"

'_Probably with Kakashi,'_ Naruto thought to himself. As he finished processing the thought, Iruka burst into the room. "Sorry I'm late!" he panted. "All right, guys, I need you to pick a job then you can go to your next class."

Sasuke and Naruto were the first ones to draw and as they left to go to their next class, they looked at the pieces of paper.

"I got a doctor," Sasuke stated, turning to Naruto. "What'd you get?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke with a look of disappointment. "A model," he responded. "That's a woman's job."

"Well, you _are_ the wife," Sasuke pointed out. "Besides, there's guy models, too, you know."

"I guess," Naruto mumbled.

Soon the two arrived at their next class: Ninja history with Kakashi.

"Don't tell me," Naruto started. "You have this class, too?"

"Well, yeah. Why else would I be here?"

"Good point," Naruto sighed.

History class flew by and they had to write a report on the history of Konoha. By the time the last bell range, Sasuke was so bored he wanted to fall asleep.

"My first day and I'm already bored to tears."

"Don't worry, it'll get better. Tomorrow we have P.E. instead of history."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, you didn't know? Everyday we have Iruka first, then we have a different teacher everyday for our second class. Tuesday is P.E. with Gai-sensei, Wednesday is Math with Asuma-sensei, Thursday is Science with Kurenai-sensei, then on Fridays, we go home after first."

"Hm…whatever. I'm going home. Take care of Kohana for me, 'kay?"

Naruto stood holding Kohana in his arms for a little while longer before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Both boys looked up at the sky and smiled. '_This may not be as bad as I thought,'_ they both said in their heads.


	3. Everything's Okay

**Chapter 3: Everything's Okay**

Sasuke arrived home after fifteen minutes of walking. Before he even opened the door, he recognized the sound of heavy metal music from the basement. The Akatsuki wasn't only the name of Itachi and his group of friends; it was also the name of their band. The heavy metal music meant that all nine of his brother's friends were over and that Sasuke had about ten minutes to eat a snack before going down to help with the songs.

Sasuke had to admit, the band was pretty cool. Itachi and Konan sang lead vocals; Deidara, Sasori, and Tobi sang back-up; Pein, Itachi, and Hidan all played electric guitar; Konan played bass guitar; Zetsu played keyboard; Kisame played drums; and Kakuzu preferred to stay hidden backstage and work lightning and effects. Sasuke came around to either help Kakuzu or give ideas on certain parts of the songs played. After all, he, Sasori, and Deidara were the ones who wrote the songs.

After eating a couple of riceballs, he headed down to the basement. When he opened the door, he was greeted by dark, smoking air and a blue spotlight shining faintly from the stage. He heard the last few notes played by Itachi's guitar then silence as the song ended.

"Hey, Itachi," Sasuke greeted his brother.

"Sasuke! There you are! There's something missing in this song. You gotta help!" This was always the best part of the band being over: Itachi was actually tolerable. Probably because he knew that, without Sasuke's help, the band would suck big time.

"Well I can't help if I don't know what song you're doing," Sasuke pointed out.

"_You_ wrote the songs. Didn't you recognize the last notes?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and looked at his brother with a look that said, "Do you want me to help or not?"

Itachi sighed at his brother's arrogance. "Fine…_Rock This Town_," he answered. "We have a concert tomorrow and we can't screw it up."

"Play it again," Sasuke told them. "So I can hear where it needs work."

Itachi nodded and turned to the band. "You heard him. One, two, three, four!"

The intro started with Itachi and Pein blasting notes on their guitars (with Konan setting the rhythm) while Kisame banged on the drums. The intro lasted about thirty seconds before Itachi slung back his guitar and started the first verse.

"_**When night comes around,**_

_**No place to hide,**_

_**The kids come out,**_

_**Time to start this ride."**_

Konan picked up with the second verse while still strumming her guitar.

"_**They say we're crazy**_

_**they say we're young.**_

_**Well, we're about to show**_

_**That we can have some fun."**_

They both jumped in at the chorus with the help of the back-ups.

_**"We're gonna rock this town,**_

_**gonna rock this night.**_

_**Gotta play this song,**_

_**No time to fight.**_

_**Don't try to stop us,**_

_**Don't hold us back,**_

_**'cause we're gonna run,**_

_**and that's a fact.**_

_**So go jump up and say it loud,**_

_**'This town is ours…give up now.'"**_

"That's it!" Sasuke exclaimed out loud. The band stopped abruptly and looked at Sasuke expectantly. "Right in the chorus. "We're gonna rock this town, gonna rock this night.' There's too much electric and not enough bass. Kakuzu! I need Pein's amp volume lower and Zetsu's raised! That should do it…run through it one more time."

The Akatsuki ran through the song once more with Sasuke's advice and ended with the blue spotlight fading out on Itachi as they did the first time.

"Better," Sasuke said, mostly to himself. "What'd you think, Itachi?"

Itachi stood in thought for a moment before jumping off the stage and poking his brother in the head with his index and middle finger. "It was good. Now go away, pipsqueak."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "Yeah, whatever. Way ahead of you." It was the same thing every time. After Sasuke helped out with a song or a certain effect and made it perfect, Itachi would jab him in the head and tell him to go away. Sasuke sighed. He didn't really mind. He had to go volunteer for his 'job' anyway. "I'm going out," he told Itachi before going up the stairs.

"Bye, Sasuke!" Deidara called, waving his head wildly over his head.

Sasori sighed and punched him in the head. "Cut it out, Dara."

Itachi frowned then turned back to his guitar. "All right, again! One, two, three, four!"

***

Naruto sat on his bed rocking Kohana gently as he looked out the window. _'Man…why am _I_ the woman? Why couldn't Sasuke take this thing home?'_ "Hey, speaking of Sasuke, I wonder what he's doing now. Ah!! Stupid thing!" He hurled the flour sack at the wall and turned away, half hoping the thing would burst. He began to wonder when he didn't hear anything and when he turned around, he saw a figure holding the bag while leaning against the wall.

"Now, now. You don't wanna kill our baby, do you?"

Naruto gasped lightly. "S-Sasuke…" he blinked and the boy vanished. _'Did I just imagine him?'_ he thought to himself. Then he turned around and saw Sasuke standing in front of him with a smirk. "Hey."

"Hey," answered Naruto, a bit surprised. "What're you doing here?"

"Well," Sasuke started, putting Kohana down on the dresser and taking a step toward Naruto. "I realized my little 'flower' had been left all alone so I decided to come check on it."

"W-What are you talkin' about, Sasuke? Kohana's not alone. She's right there." He pointed to the dresser confused.

Sasuke chuckled softly. "I wasn't talking about Kohana, Naruto," he responded still smirking. Then he leaned down and whispered into Naruto's ear. "I was talking about you."

"What? Wait, Sasuke—" he was cut off by Sasuke suddenly pushing his lips against his own. Naruto unintentionally relaxed as Sasuke kissed him…big mistake. Sasuke pushed Naruto backwards on the bed and held him there.

"_This_ is why you're the wife, Naruto," Sasuke whispered seductively. "Because I'm the dominant one." Naruto inhaled sharply as Sasuke lowered his head and bit down on his neck. Not hard enough to make him bleed, but hard enough to leave his mark. Naruto shivered as Sasuke gently slid his hands under his shirt and began rubbing Naruto's side with the tips of is fingers. Naruto giggled slightly when Sasuke hit a ticklish spot, causing Sasuke to smile. To think, after a while, Naruto would fully be his. He chuckled at the thought and began undoing Naruto's pants, causing the blond to whimper with anticipation.

"Sh…" Sasuke cooed in his ear as he pulled down Naruto's pants and headed for the boxers. "You'll be okay. I promise I won't be too rough." And with one final jerk Naruto was completely naked from the waist down.

"Hey, no fair," Naruto breathed. "Why do you get to do everything?"

"Well, if you're so eager, why don't you undress me?"

"Maybe I will," Naruto responded, flipping on top of Sasuke and quickly removing every article of clothing on him. Naruto smiled to himself; he wasn't doing half bad! His ninja skills had come in handy and now he was on top! Well, he _was_ anyway.

"Now then," said Sasuke, knocking Naruto to the side and getting back on top of him. "My turn again."

'_Oh man!' _Naruto thought. _'So much for being on top.'_ He wondered for a second what was going to happen when a sudden jolt of both pain and pleasure shot through his body. He looked up into Sasuke's eyes and saw all he needed to see. The teen had a finger in him. Naruto let out a tiny squeal as Sasuke inserted another finger.

"It's all right, Naruto," Sasuke told the whimpering teen beneath him. The dark-haired boy was definitely enjoying every innocent sound coming out of his soon-to-be lover's mouth. Soon to be? Oh no. It had to be now, right now. Sasuke pulled out both fingers, causing Naruto to whine unhappily.

"Oh, don't worry, my little 'wife'. You'll be getting more than that soon enough."

Naruto braced himself. This was it. After this, he would be Sasuke's lover, but he didn't know whether he was reluctant or joyous, but he felt he better make his decision fast. He heard Sasuke whisper one more word and then…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ah!" Naruto jumped out of bed quickly and began panting heavily. It had just been a dream, but…a dream about Sasuke doing him? That had to wrong. But in his mind, Naruto cursed at not staying asleep just a little bit longer. "Damn alarm clock," he mumbled. _'Oh well…it was nice while it lasted.'_

Iruka opened the door and saw Naruto getting dressed. "Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to come wake you up. Uh…are you okay?" When Naruto looked at him weird, Iruka pointed down at the boy's groin area. That's when Naruto noticed that he may have had a slight boner. Okay so maybe he _definitely_ had a boner; and maybe it wasn't so slight after all. Naruto's face turned forty different shades of red before he grabbed a pillow and chucked it at Iruka. "Get out! I'll walk to school myself!"

"Don't forget your baby!" Iruka called from the other side of the now closed door.

"Shut up!" yelled Naruto. It was bad enough that he had had a literal fucking dream about Sasuke and now Iruka was teasing. Could this day get any worse?

***

Sasuke stood outside that classroom waiting for Naruto. It was Sasuke's turn to watch Kohana, but the blond was nowhere in sight. As Sasuke was about to give up, Naruto rounded the corner. Something was wrong. Naruto was just looking at the ground like he was depressed or something. Even though this was only Sasuke's second day, he knew better than to let this pass. "Naruto, what's up?"

Naruto's head shot up and immediately turned pink. Sasuke assumed that the blond must've had a fever so he walked over to him, only making Naruto blush deeper.

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke asked, placing a hand on Naruto's forehead. "You feel warm. I guess it's a good thing I went to volunteer at the doctor's office last night. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke shrugged. "If you say so. Hey, I was wondering…do you want to come with me after school today?"

Naruto's body heat rose to an all-time high. "Wha—why?"

"To work on our project," Sasuke explained, a little confused. "What's wrong with you?"

Something in Naruto's mind was trying to get him to say it. Just one simple sentence. _'I had a dream about you.'_ It couldn't be that hard, right? Yeah right! Sasuke would probably think Naruto was some prick who only wanted to get his hands on his body. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

Sasuke looked at Naruto as the latter sighed. "Is it about me?" he asked hesitantly.

Naruto blushed again. "No! Well, I…uh…maybe…yeah?"

"So…" Sasuke pressed. "What?"

"I…can't say," Naruto muttered.

"Why not? I wanna—" RING!

"Sorry, Sasuke, I gotta go!"

"But we have same…class," Sasuke finished as Naruto raced into the room. Had he said something that insulted him? As far as Sasuke knew, they had been on good since yesterday. Sasuke shrugged and walked into the room. He took his sear between Shikamaru and Shino and looked around. Naruto was sitting between Sakura and Kiba, a small blush still on his face. Sasuke couldn't get it. What the heck was wrong with Naruto?

Sasuke stayed in the dark all first period. Even Shikamaru had noticed the difference. He kept casting curious glances at Sasuke and sighed when Sasuke shrugged in response.

'_What a drag,'_ Shikamaru complained in his head.

Second period was with Gai-sensei. Sasuke took one look at the teacher and had only one thought. Torture. The man was a tall, muscular guy with black hair cut in a bowl-type style, huge bushy eyebrows, and a manner of speaking that wanted to make Sasuke gag. Something about the "bloom of youth" always escaped from the man's mouth. Sasuke shrugged off the thought of the teacher and headed into the changing room. On his way in, he passed Naruto coming out, but the blond didn't even turn to say "hi" to him. Had Sasuke really done something to bother him? He sighed and entered the room.

Five minutes later, Sasuke came out, changed into a tight-fitting black tank-top with the Uchiha symbol on the back and black shorts. He looked around for Naruto and spotted him talking to Shikamaru. The teen was dressed in a white shirt with a swirl on the front that was slightly looser than Sasuke's and dark blue shorts.

Gai soon blew the whistle and the students gathered around. Sasuke tried to stand by Naruto, but it seemed that no matter how close he got, somehow the blond would get away. "All right, guys," Gai began. "We're going to play dodgeball. And I don't mean puny, pathetic, spineless, kindergarten type dodgeball. I'm talking military style, give-it-all-you-got-or-else-you-go-down dodgeball. Got it?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" the students exclaimed.

"Good. Now split up into teams and we'll get started."

Sasuke wandered around for a few minutes, praying that he might be on Naruto's team to find our what was bothering him. As the scattering students clumped together, however, Sasuke found himself on a team with Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino. Naruto was on the other team with Kiba, Hinata, and Sakura.

"Aw, man," Sasuke mumbled as Gai blew the whistle to begin. The gym was suddenly full of flying balls as the students threw them at each other with more force than necessary. Sasuke picked up a ball and threw it as had as he could in a random direction at the other team. Yes, he had easily taken out Hinata then he jumped to the side quickly to avoid a ball thrown by Kiba that looked more like a meteor than anything.

Naruto had picked up a ball and was about to throw it until he realized that it would be in Sasuke's direction. He stood still for a moment before shaking his head and throwing it instead at Choji.

'_Okay, maybe he's not mad,'_ Sasuke thought. He stood smiling thoughtfully for a moment until his thoughts were suddenly broken by Ino's voice.

"Sasuke, look out!"

***

Sasuke groaned lightly and opened his eyes. His head hurt like hell and his body seemed drained of energy. He looked around and noticed he was in the school infirmary on a cot. _'How did I get here?"_ he wondered. The last thing he remembered was playing dodgeball in second period. So what happened? Movement at the end of his bed alerted him and he looked up to see Naruto lifting up his head sleepily from where he was sitting by Sasuke's cot. "Naruto?" Sasuke called gently.

Naruto looked up and relief washed over his face. "Sasuke? Oh, thank Kami you're alright!" Sasuke was caught off guard by the sudden hug that was forced on him but, for some reason, it relieved him.

"How did I get here?" Sasuke asked.

"Kiba was being stupid and threw a dodgeball at you and it hit you really hard in the head. You fell to the ground and didn't move." Sasuke noticed tears forming in the corners of Naruto's eyes and began to feel guilty at worrying the blond so much. "I panicked and Gai-sensei brought you here. I refused to go back until you woke up. You've been out for an hour now. Why were you standing there like an idiot anyway?"

Sasuke laughed softly at the protective concern in Naruto's voice. "I was thinking about you," he answered wearily.

"Me?" Naruto echoed. "Why me?"

"I thought you were mad at me, but I couldn't figure out why. Then I had doubts when you didn't throw the ball at me and—"

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I wasn't mad at you. I was mad at myself."

"What? Why?"

A blush overcame Naruto's face again. "I was mad because I was embarrassed and I was embarrassed because…" Naruto took a deep breath before continuing. This was it: the moment of truth. "I had a dream about you Sasuke. And not a regular dream, a…well you know."

Silence filled the room as Naruto looked down at the bed nervously. Sasuke simply stared at Naruto, but if the blond had bothered to look, he would have seen relief and a bit of excitement in Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto tensed as he felt Sasuke get up. He knew Sasuke was probably going to hit him as hard as he could and then walk away but instead, to Naruto's surprise, the dark-haired teen wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and hugged him.

"So _that's_ why you were ignoring me," Sasuke realized. "You were afraid of what I would do."

Naruto nodded and looked up at Sasuke with curious blue eyes. "So…you're not mad?"

"Mad?" Sasuke chuckled. "No, I'm not mad. You're not the only guy whose dreamt about me. It's nothing new."

"Oh," Naruto responded, looking to the side. "Okay, then."

"Not saying that I don't like you!" Sasuke spilt out quickly. "Just you're not the first one."

"So…you _do_ like me?" Naruto asked.

"Uh…I…uh…well.." Sasuke stammered. "I…_do_ but I don't, uh…I mean…nevermind."

Naruto giggled softly. "Yeah nevermind. Forget I said anything." Then he gasped suddenly. "Kohana!"

"You lost our baby?" Sasuke asked.

"No…she's in Iruka's class…I think."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You _think_?"

"Okay, I know."

Sasuke sat up and rubbed his head. "That's going to hurt a while," he mumbled before hopping out of the bed. "Is school over then?"

"Yeah, " Naruto replied, helping Sasuke regain his balance. "We got out thirty minutes ago."

"Good," Sasuke responded, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder until his head stopped spinning. "Then let's go get Kohana."


	4. Meet the Brother

**Chapter 4: Meet the Brother**

Naruto and Sasuke walked to Sasuke's house together after they left the school. Naruto had agreed to go home with Sasuke to work on their project without disturbing anyone. After all, tonight was the Akatsuki's first big show and that meant Itachi would be gone for hours.

Sasuke unlocked the door and the boys walked inside. Sasuke flipped on the light and headed into the kitchen. "You hungry?" he asked Naruto who was still standing in the doorway. "Will you come in already? I don't bite you know."

Naruto hesitated a while longer before walking inside and dropping his backpack by the door.

Sasuke opened the refrigerator, looked around for a second, then closed it disappointedly before looking in the cabinet. "Sorry," he told Naruto. "The only thing we have is ramen. Itachi hasn't been shopping yet."

"Who's Itachi?" Naruto asked, sitting on the couch.

"My brother," Sasuke replied, taking a package of ramen out of the cabinet.

"You have a brother?" Naruto looked at Sasuke curiously. He had never heard Sasuke talk about his brother so he had no clue before then.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered as he filled a pot with water. "He's twenty-three and he kinda looks like me, well…that's what everyone tells me. I don't really care. Me and Itachi aren't exactly _close_."

"Oh," Naruto said, feeling a little awkward for bringing it up. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke responded, watching the oven coil turn red as it heated up the water in the pot. "It's not a big deal."

Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably and picked up Kohana as Sasuke came over and sat next to him. "We need to decorate her," Naruto said suddenly in an attempt to change the subject.

"Who, Kohana?"

"Yeah. Now she just looks like a flour sack. She's so boring."

Sasuke sat in thought for a while before getting up. "Wait here," he told Naruto, sprinting up the stairs. When he came back, he was carrying a box almost as big as he was. Naruto jumped up and helped Sasuke set the box on the ground. The dark-haired teen kneeled down and opened the box, revealing different colors of yarn, paints, ribbons, cloth, and sewing materials.

"Woah, Sasuke, how—"

"I did a lot of crafts when I was little. I brought the stuff along when my brother and I moved here, but I didn't bother unpacking because I didn't think I'd need it."

Naruto picked up a handful of black yarn and put it on top of the flour sack. "I think she should have your hair," Naruto announced.

"Fine by me…" Sasuke said. Then he noticed Naruto staring at him. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna pick something on me that she should have?" Naruto asked.

"Fine," Sasuke sighed. This was beginning to get weird. "Your…eyes."

"Okay!" Naruto grabbed a bottle of super glue in the box and squirted a huge amount on top of the bag.

"Don't you think that's a little much, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, leaning his head on his hand.

"Nope!" Naruto answered cheerfully. "We don't want her hair to fall out. People might think she has cancer!" And with that, Naruto arranged a few strands of yarn on the flour so the ends hung down like bangs. Then he cut a bunch of pieces in half and glued them all over the top and slightly on the back. "There! It even spikes up! Oh, wait!" He reached into the box and pulled out a bag of rhinestones. "Here, Sasuke, glue these on a ribbon."

"Hm…" Sasuke said as he picked up a light blue ribbon and glued a few rhinestones to each end. _'Looks fine to me,'_ he thought to himself. "Here, Naruto." Sasuke handed the ribbon to the blond who tied it on one side of Kohana's head.

"There!" Naruto said, satisfied. "Now she needs clothes."

"I made some before I went to bed last night," Sasuke said, digging in the box. He soon pulled out a small skirt made of pink fleece and a small knit white shirt. Then, embarrassed about what Naruto would think about him, rushed to explain. "I told my friend, Konan, about our project and she insisted that I make clothes with the doll patterns she had or else she'd tell everyone that I had a dog groomer for a job."

"I like dogs," Naruto said, taking the clothes from Sasuke and putting them on Kohana. "I think it's cute. Your turn," he said, passing Kohana to Sasuke. "You said you wanted her to have my eyes."

Sasuke smiled and picked out an bright, ocean blue color. "How's this?" he asked after he painted on the eyes.

"I like it!" squealed Naruto, squeezing Kohana tight.

"Uh-huh…Oh yeah!" Sasuke said, remembering Naruto's job. "How's the model thing going? I can't be the only one providing for the kid you know."

"Oh," Naruto sighed, releasing Kohana. "I dunno. I stopped by the photography studio and they said that I had to have pictures and references and that kind of stuff, even to volunteer."

"You really are hopeless," Sasuke sighed. Then when Naruto looked at him confused, he added, "I can help you, you know."

"You mean it?!" Naruto yelled, suddenly getting his energy back and throwing his arms around Sasuke in a hug. "That'd be amazing! Thank you, Sasuke!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke responded, gently pushing Naruto away. "Come on, I think the ramen's ready.

***

After eating, Naruto put Kohana in her "crib", which was a plastic storage box with a blanket in it up in Sasuke's room. Sasuke was digging around in his closet, looking for something that would be good enough for Naruto to wear on camera. He finally settled on a blue form fitting shirt and black jeans. "Here," he said, handing the clothes to Naruto. "We don't have time to do this now, but hang on to those clothes and we'll get to it soon enough, okay?"

Naruto nodded and gave Sasuke the biggest, goofiest grin ever. "Thanks. So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, I haven't been to 'work' yet, so I guess I should go do that."

"Oh…uh…" Naruto stammered, looking down. Sasuke looked at him.

"What?"

"Um…Iruka won't be home for a while tonight. He's out on a date."

"Hm? A date?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered. "He usually goes out with a 'friend' of his and doesn't come back until like eleven."

"Well," Sasuke started. "You suppose you can stay here tonight. You better call Iruka, though. Ugh, what time is it?"

Naruto looked over at the clock on the dresser. "It's seven."

"All right, Naruto. I'll tell you what. I have to go, but I'll only be gone for two hours okay? I'll be back at nine and then we'll get you settled in, deal?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

"There's movies and stuff in the cabinet under the TV so make yourself at home while I'm gone, and DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!"

"Okay," Naruto said, tilting his head, curiously.

"I'm leaving, now," Sasuke said quickly without giving Naruto a chance to ask why he wasn't to answer the phone. _'If Itachi knew a kid like Naruto was over, who knows what he'd do.'_

***

Sasuke sat in the doctor's laboratory, looking at a blood sample under a microscope. It was 8:30 which meant that he got off his "job" in fifteen minutes. His "superior" had given him a booklet to study to help him identify the different types of blood cells and their uses and right now, he was not enjoying it too much. He was beginning to debate whether he should have left the hyperactive blond in an unfamiliar house all by himself and his conscience was currently eating away at him. He leaned back away from the microscope and sighed. _'Great,'_ he thought. _'More guilt.'_ He turned his head suddenly when the door to the lab opened and a tall, gray-haired man in a lab coat walked in. The man looked down at Sasuke and smiled.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind, Sasuke."

"Just slightly," Sasuke responded, staring off into space again.

The doctor chuckled and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "There's only five minutes until your shift is over. You can go ahead and leave if you want."

"Really?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," the doctor replied. "Just give me your record to sign, then you can be on your way."

"Thanks, Dr. Hikata," Sasuke said politely as he handed the doctor the book.

"Don't mention it," Dr. Hikata said, quickly initialing a page in the book and handing it back to Sasuke. "There you go, kiddo. Now off you go!"

Sasuke nodded and, thanking Dr. Hikata once again, left the hospital. Tonight was Tuesday and the Akatsuki's debut concert and…_'Oh crap!'_ Sasuke thought. _'Itachi's going to be home soon!'_ And with that he broke into a run and headed for his house.

***

Itachi walked into his house at 9:00. The light upstairs was on which meant that little brother was awake, but shut up in his room. _'Guess he didn't feel like answering the phone,_' he thought. Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori were the only ones to come with him since the others had stayed to sign autographs or whatever. Yep, tonight was a big hit.

"Hope Pein and the others can handle the mob," Itachi joked.

Deidara laughed and put an arm around Sasori. "Yep! They loved us, Itachi! It was amazing!"

Sasori moved out of Deidara's grip. "Shut up, you idiot. Do you wanna hear Sasuke start whining about the noise again?"

"He's here?!" Deidara asked excitedly. "Let's go see!"

Kisame turned to Itachi as Deidara bounded up the stairs. "I told you we shouldn't have let him have three bags of cotton candy to himself."

Itachi shrugged. "Not my problem. He's Sasori's boyfriend."

The two arrived at Sasuke's bedroom just as Deidara and Sasori were walking inside.

"Hi, Ke-ku—You're not Ke-ke." Deidara said, standing in the doorway.

"Who else would it be, you blond dummy?" Kisame asked Deidara, receiving an evil glare from Sasori.

Deidara turned to the others and pointed into the room. "But…Ke-ke's not blond."

"Blond?" Itachi wondered aloud, pushing Deidara out of the way and looking into the bedroom. There he saw a blond kid, about Sasuke's age lying on the bed, watching a movie. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, pointing to the kid.

The kid turned his head and gave Itachi a big, blue-eyed stare. "Huh? Uh, Sasuke said I could watch a movie in his room until he got back. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Sasuke, huh?" Itachi repeated with a smirk. "So you're my little brother's friend."

"Yeah," Naruto answered, sitting up. "Oh, you're Itachi!"

Itachi walked over to Naruto and smiled. "Yep. That's me," he said.

At that point, Deidara ran over to Naruto and squeezed him in a hug. "Any friend of Ke-ke's is a friend of mine!" he declared happily.

"Better watch what you refer to Sasuke as," Sasori warned under his breath.

Itachi chuckled and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "So, Naruto, was it? Are you hungry?"

"Not really," Naruto said. "Sasuke and I ate before he left."

"Aw, c'mon, kid. What kind of a host would I be if I didn't offer my guest any food?"

"Okay, if you say s—" Naruto was cut off by his stomach letting out a huge rumble.

"Not hungry?" Itachi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto laughed nervously and put his hand behind his head. "Guess, I'm hungrier than I thought," he said, smiling.

Itachi smirked again and led the blond downstairs. "Good," he said. "Then let's eat."

***

Sasuke was only less than a block away from his house. He had stopped by the concert location to see if his brother was still there, but Konan had told him that Itachi had already left. _'Damn it,'_ he thought. _'Just how long has he been gone?'_ He finally got to his house and noticed a red Mustang sitting in the driveway. "Oh shit," he cursed aloud. "Itachi's already here." He walked up to the door and turned the doorknob.

Inside, Naruto was sitting at the table, yapping away to Itachi and Deidara. Sasori and Kisame were sitting on the other side of the table, looking bored out of their minds.

"You have quite an imagination there, Naru-kun," Itachi said, ruffling the blond's hair.

Naruto giggled and looked towards the door. "Huh? Oh, hey, Sasuke! Your brother made me ramen!"

"Oh really?" Sasuke said through gritted teeth as he gave his brother the scariest death glare in the world.

Itachi noticed but merely raised a hand. "Yo," he greeted his little brother. "You didn't tell me you had such a cute little friend."

"That's because you would try to kidnap him," Sasuke said, under his breath. Itachi merely smirked even more.

'_I don't like this…'_ Sasuke thought. "Come on, Naruto, we have a project to do." And with that he dragged Naruto out of the chair and up the stairs.

"Ah! Wa-wait! Sasuke!" Naruto struggled. "B-Bye, Ita-san!" Naruto called over his shoulder.

Itachi raised a hand to say good-bye then leaned back in his chair._ 'This could be interesting…'_ he thought.

"Bye-bye, Naruto!" Deidara called.

Naruto had no time to respond as he was thrown into Sasuke's room and the door was slammed shut behind them. He turned to the dark-haired teen who now had his ear pressed up against the door.

"Sasuke, what're you—"

"Sh!" Sasuke commanded and pushed his ear back against the door. He could make out Itachi's voice and then a higher, perky voice responding. _'That's Deidara,"_ Sasuke thought to himself. He guessed that Deidara and Sasori were on their way back to their apartment so that would mean that Kisame was staying around for a little longer.

"You two leaving already?" Itachi was asking.

"Yeah," Sasori answered. "That cotton candy gave Dei-kun an awful sugar rush. He's ready for bed."

"Nuh-uh!" Deidara protested. "I'm fine…Oh my head hurts…"

Sasori shook his head and turned back to Itachi. "Practice still tomorrow, right?"

Itachi nodded. "Yep. Tomorrow at four."

"See ya then," Sasori said and waved at Itachi. "Come on, Deidara, let's go."

"Okay…"

After the other two left, Sasuke heard nothing but silence for a short while before Kisame spoke. "What are you planning, Itachi?"

"Planning?" Itachi asked, a little too innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Kisame retorted. "It's not everyday you call a sixteen year old boy cute."

"Oh, come on, Kisame. Must you always make me out to have some _ulterior_ motive?"

Sasuke guessed by the silence that Kisame had raised a doubtful eyebrow at Itachi. "Oh, all right," Itachi sighed. "You got me. But I won't cause too much trouble. I mean, I just want to get to know Sasuke's little friend better."

"Uh, yeah," Kisame said doubtfully. "Whatever, I'm going home. Try not to get yourself in too deep, okay?"

"Yes, _Mom_," Itachi replied.

Sasuke heard Kisame sigh then the door closed. At that time, Sasuke sighed and pulled his ear away from the door. He looked over and saw Naruto looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"What's going on, Sasuke? Why'd you drag me off like that?"

Sasuke straightened up and looked to the side.

"Well?" Naruto pressed.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto and sighed. "Naruto," he began. "You need to be careful when you're around Itachi. He's…he's not as good a person as he seems."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I…nevermind," Sasuke said. "Come on, let's get you settled."

***

Naruto lied on his back, looking up at the ceiling. Sasuke had laid out a blow up mattress and given him a pillow and three different blankets to use. Naruto turned his head and looked over at Sasuke sleeping soundly in his bed. It wasn't Sasuke's words themselves that made Naruto nervous; it was the way he had said them. There just seemed to be a kind of urgency in his voice. Naruto sighed and rolled on his side. _'What did he mean?'_ he thought. He groaned and sat up. All this wondering that made him thirsty. Naruto stood up, stepped off the mattress, opened the door, then silently stepped out of the room.

As he was going down the stairs, he saw a faint light flickering from the living room and when he looked over the rail, he saw Itachi watching TV. Itachi turned his head when he heard a stair creak and saw Naruto coming down. "Naruto?"

"Hi, Ita-san," Naruto greeted. "You're still awake?"

Itachi chuckled. "Yep. I usually don't go to bed until the sun starts to come up. Then I sleep the day away. Akatsuki means dawn you know."

"Oh yeah," Naruto said, remembering their conversation earlier at dinner and how Itachi had told him how he was the leader of their band, Akatsuki. Itachi had also suggested that Naruto should sit in on one of the practices which, in itself, didn't seem all that bad.

"What about you?" Itachi asked the absorbed blond. "What are you doing up?"

"Oh…I couldn't sleep. I was getting some water."

"Huh, how convenient," said Itachi before tossing Naruto a water bottle. "I drank out of it though. Hope you don't mind."

Naruto shook his head slightly. "I don't," he said before finishing off the half-full bottle.

Itachi laughed softly. "Wow, you were thirsty. Come here."

Naruto threw the bottle in the trashcan then walked over to the couch where Itachi was sitting.

"Come on, sit down. I don't bite."

Naruto sat down on the couch and looked at the TV. "What're you watching?"

"Oh…nothing really. Just some old band tapes that me and Akatsuki put together."

"Wow," Naruto stared at the screen as if he had never seen a guitar before. "You're pretty good."

"Thank you," Itachi said. "I'm one of the lead singers, but my real passion is the guitar. Konan's more of the singing type."

"Is that the blue-haired girl there?" Naruto asked, pointing at the screen.

"Yep," Itachi replied, stretching his arms over his head and lazily letting one fall around Naruto's shoulders. "Sleepy yet?"

"A little," Naruto responded with a yawn. Itachi smiled and patted the boy's shoulder. "Well then, you better get back up to Sasuke's room. He'd throw a hissy fit if he saw you down here with me."

"Okay," Naruto agreed, walking toward the stairs. Before he went up, he turned back to Itachi. "Ita-san…what happened between you and Sasuke?"

Itachi sat in silence for a minute, a haunted look overcoming his eyes. Realizing Naruto needed an answer, Itachi replied. "It's sibling rivalry. What're ya gonna do?"

"Oh," Naruto said, a little confused. "Okay, then." And with that he went back upstairs.

Itachi watched the blond walk sleepily up the stairs then close Sasuke's door behind him. Itachi frowned and looked at the ground. _'I'm sorry, Naruto, but even Sasuke doesn't know the truth behind that…'_

Naruto stood on the other side of Sasuke's door and stared at his feet. Itachi almost seemed reluctant to answer, or at least, he hesitated for a while. Naruto sighed and picked up Kohana in the storage box. _'Oh well…it's not my business what goes on between them, right, Kohana?'_ He set the flour sack back down, sat on the mattress and looked at the still sleeping Uchiha. For some reason, Naruto could have sworn that he saw Sasuke panting, but he couldn't be sure.

Naruto stood up and walked over to Sasuke. Sure enough, he was panting, and when Naruto put his hand to Sasuke's head, he saw it was drenched in a cold sweat. _'He's having a nightmare,'_ Naruto thought. His thoughts were confirmed when Sasuke started muttering in his sleep. Words like "no", "mother", and "dead". Naruto looked down at his friend sympathetically. _'He's had the same life I've had.'_ Naruto looked down at the ground again then walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to Sasuke.

***

Sasuke stood, staring at a huge pile of corpses. Just a second before, these people had been surrounding him, protecting him from the danger that was approaching. He could hear the maniacal laugh getting closer and then a gentle, yet eerie voice.

"Sasuke…" it called. Sasuke stared up at nothing…at least that was what he saw: nothing but black. The voice spoke again. "Sasuke, your mother and father are dead. Come to me…come, Sasuke, I shall make it better. I'll make it all better for you. You'll never be sad again…"

"No…"Sasuke whispered. He tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from but he had no luck. Then suddenly, the bodies began to disappear and the darkness seemed to enclose on him. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. What ever this force was, it was draining the life out of him. He suddenly felt something wrap around his waist and squeeze him. He began to struggle, but couldn't get free. _'What is this?'_ he thought. _'Am I going to die?'_ Then, as his last breath left him, he whispered one more word. "Mo…ther…"

Sasuke opened his eyes. Once they adjusted, he realized he was in his room lying in his bed. It was completely silent with the exception of the ticking of his clock. It wasn't the first time he had had this dream, but it was the first time something had grabbed him around the waist. _'What was that?'_ he asked. Then he felt a tug from around his stomach and looked down. There he saw a pair of arms wrapped around him. He turned his head and saw Naruto sleeping soundly next to him. _'When did he--?"_

"Sas…ke…" Naruto breathed softly. Sasuke's eyes widened as the blond said his name. It had some kind of calming effect on him, but he couldn't figure out why. "Sas…ke…don't be afraid…"

"What?" Sasuke said in a barely audible whisper.

"I'll…help…you, Sasuke…trust...me…" And with that, the blond's words melted into soft breathing.

Sasuke lied in silence, thinking about the blond's words. _'Did he really mean that?'_ he thought. He rolled over, being careful not to wake up Naruto and hugged him. _'I don't care,'_ he thought. _'I don't care if you only meant it now…thank you…Naruto.'_


	5. Trouble in Paradise

**Chapter 5: Trouble in Paradise**

The next morning, Sasuke woke up to feel Naruto pressed against him. His mind flashed back to the words that the blond had mumbled to him in his sleep. _'No one's ever said that to me,'_ he thought. _'Just how much do you really care, Naruto?'_ He closed his eyes only to open them again. _'Today's a school day…'_ he groaned in his mind. Then he turned around and shook the blond gently. "Naruto…Naruto, wake up. It's a school day."

Naruto whined in his sleep then opened his eyes slightly. "But I don't wanna go," he whined.

"Neither do I, but come on," Sasuke answered him, getting out of the bed.

Naruto groaned and sat up in the bed. "My stomach hurts," he said.

"That's what you get for eating two bowls of ramen in one night," Sasuke told him, pulling on a shirt.

"But I usually have five bowls of ramen for dinner," Naruto said, puzzled.

"That can't be healthy for you," Sasuke said. "You need to eat better. Did you eat anything else last night?"

"No…You pulled me up here after I was done with the second bowl…Oh! I did go get some water!"

"Where'd you get it from?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"Itachi gave it to me…" Naruto said quietly.

"I told you to be careful around him!" Sasuke yelled. "For all you know, he could have drugged that!"

Naruto looked to the side nervously. He didn't mean to get Sasuke mad at him, but so far that was all he seemed to be doing. "I'm sorry…" he said.

Sasuke practically choked looking at the depressed look on Naruto's face. He couldn't just let the normally hyperactive blond be depressed all day. "Don't worry about it, Naruto," Sasuke said, running a brush through his hair.

"Sasuke, can I borrow some of your clothes? I forgot to grab some."

"I guess," Sasuke sighed. He turned back to the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a red shirt. "Here you go," he said, tossing the clothes to Naruto. "Hurry up and change. We're going to be late."

"Aren't we already?" Naruto asked, pulling the shirt over his head.

"Yeah a little bit," Sasuke replied, opening the door and heading for the stairs. "Itachi's asleep so don't hope to see him."

"Wait! I forgot Kohana!" Naruto cried.

"Well, hurry up and go get her."

As Naruto took off up the stairs, Sasuke opened the refrigerator and took out two riceballs. _'I swear, Itachi…you lay one hand on Naruto and I'll kill you.'_ He looked up when he heard Naruto coming back down.

"Okay! Ready!"

***

Sasuke and Naruto arrived at the school ten minutes later. The halls were deserted since everyone was in class. They soon arrived at the classroom and opened the door.

"So you decided to join us after all, Naruto? Sasuke?"

The boys stopped in their tracks and saw Iruka staring at them. "You're ten minutes late."

"Yeah, about that," Sasuke started. "My brother was late getting up this morning. He's the one who drives."

"Excuses," Iruka mumbled, checking the boys' names off of his attendance sheet. "Take your seats."

The boys sat down next to each other by Shikamaru and laid their heads down on the desk.

"So much for a perfect record, eh, Uchiha?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke sighed. "So much…"

"I wouldn't worry," Naruto said with a yawn. "Iruka-sensei won't get us in trouble for being late."

"Not that the Hokage cares much anyway…"

"Hokage?" Sasuke repeated.

"Oh right," Naruto explained. "The Hokage is the one that runs the whole village of Konoha. She's also the principal. Our teachers are 'sensei' and our village protectors are called 'anbu'."

"You have village protectors?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Shikamaru started. "Our village is pretty powerful. We have a large army and we're quite wealthy. There have been countless kidnapping and assassination attempts throughout Konoha's history and village guards are one way to keep crime down. Their kinda like police officers."

"Uh-huh," Sasuke said, not quite getting it. Before he could ask anything else, though, Iruka spoke up.

"All right, guys. Class is starting now. I hope you all have had fun in your families so far, so now we're gonna take it up a level."

"Not us," Shikamaru whispered to Naruto. "Choji killed our baby and used it in a cake."

Naruto snorted as he covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

"Anyway," Iruka continued, giving Naruto a parental glare, then picking up a large box from behind his desk. "In this box I have the upgrades to your children." As Iruka opened the box, Sasuke lowered his head. _'I have a bad feeling about this…'_

"Voila!" said Iruka, pulling out a small mechanical box. When the students stared at him weird, he continued. "It's a simulator. That's right, your babies are now powered with sound!"

The class groaned and began mumbling to each other. "Oh, stop," Iruka told them. "This is for your own good. This simulator will allow the baby to cry when it needs something, coo when it's happy, and it will even make sleeping noises. Yes, Kiba?"

Kiba pointed at the simulator doubtfully. "You're gonna put simulators in flour sacks?"

Iruka laughed and shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous!" he said, making a motion toward the door. "These are far to expensive to get flour all in the gears. Ebisu, you can bring them in now!"

"Them?" Naruto said quietly.

'_I _really_ have a bad feeling about this…'_ Sasuke thought, cringing.

The classroom door opened and another teacher wearing sunglasses walked into the room, pushing a cart, putting the classroom into a complete commotion.

"No way!"

"That's right!" Iruka said, barely able to hide his amusement. "You guys are getting actual baby simulation dolls!"

"I need a gun," Sasuke said to himself. "I'm going to die."

"It won't be that bad, Sasuke," Naruto told the dark-haired teen. "It's just like Kohana except it cries."

"Joy," Sasuke mumbled.

"So!" Iruka said, cheerfully. "I will call each family up and you will pick either a boy doll or a girl doll. Then, you come to me and get your simulators, then you can come get your diaper bags."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Sasuke sighed sarcastically.

"All right! Hinata and Sakura…"

"Oh Kami," Shikamaru and Sasuke both sighed.

"What's the matter with you two?" Naruto asked innocently. "It's not a big deal,"

"Easy for you to say," Shikamaru mumbled. "You're not the wife."

"Actually," Naruto corrected him, glancing at Sasuke. "I am the wife."

"Then you must realize this is going to be hell," Shikamaru groaned.

"Shikamaru and Choji."

"Great…my sentence has been called. I'll be right back."

Naruto and Sasuke watched Shikamaru go down to the desk with Choji. "I wonder if they have hair," Naruto wondered aloud.

"Why would you ask something like that?" Sasuke asked. "They're dolls. Dolls don't have hair."

"Saki's and Hina's does," Naruto said, pointing to Sakura and Hinata. Hinata was holding her baby which had dark hair and light green eyes. "See? I bet we can get one that looks just like Kohana."

Sasuke sighed in response. At that time, Shikamaru came back with a diaper bag slung over his shoulder and a baby simulator in his arms. "I feel ridiculous…" was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

"Sasuke and Naruto."

'_Damn,'_ Sasuke thought as he stood up with Naruto. When they got to the desk, Iruka smiled. "Pick your baby."

Naruto leaned over the side of the cart and looked in. He saw lots of dolls, each wearing either blue or pink. _'We need one that's wearing pink,'_ he thought. _'And one with dark hair and bright blue eyes…There!'_ Naruto leaned back up happily, holding a doll wearing pink. "See? It has black hair like you and blue eyes like me!"

"Yay…" Sasuke said unenthusiastically. "Come on."

"Found one?" Iruka asked. "Good. All right let's get one of the girl simulators. Here you go," he said, handing the baby back to Naruto after he finished installing the simulator. "Now pick a diaper bag and that will be all."

"Let's get a pink one," Naruto said. "It'll match Kohana."

"You're enjoying this way too much," Sasuke told him. "Here. Get this one. It's purple and white."

"Why purple?" Naruto asked.

"Because I want blue and you want pink so purple is those colors mixed."

"Oh…okay." Naruto agreed.

After all the pairs got their babies, Iruka allowed them all to get up and talk to each other. Sasuke was sitting with Shikamaru who was still holding the baby in his arms as if he had no clue what to do. Choji got up and walked to him. "You know, sitting there staring at it isn't going to take care of it."

"What's there to take care of ?" Shikamaru asked. "It's not doing anyth—" Shikamaru looked down as he was cut off by the baby crying. "Aw man…what a drag."

"Maybe there's something in the diaper bag?" Naruto suggested.

Choji began rummaging through the bag that was still attached to Shikamaru. "Hey!" Shikamaru yelled. "Get out of there!"

"Look, a bottle!" Choji said, pulling his hand out. Sure enough, in his hand was a baby bottle. "Maybe he's hungry. Come here, Sashimi."

"Sashimi?" Sasuke looked at Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow.

"Choji wanted to name him after a food," Shikamaru explained. "I think the same thing you do…trust me."

"Hey, it's working," Naruto said, pointing over to Choji. Sashimi had stopped crying and was now cooing and making little sucking noises as Choji held the bottle to his mouth.

Shikamaru sighed in relief. "Thank Kami."

"Aww," a girl voice said. The boys looked up to see Ino and Kiba standing by them. "The baby stopped crying. You're a good mama, Choji."

"I'm not the mom," Choji said. "Shikamaru is."

Kiba laughed. "It was an obvious choice for us. Ino's the mom and I'm the dad."

"Of course it was easy for you," Shikamaru countered. "You two are actually dating."

"Yep," Kiba said, putting an arm around Ino. "And Ino's a good mom, too! She's already figured out which cry is what."

"You mean there's different cries?" Shikamaru groaned.

"Duh!" Ino said. "That's what's called _maternal instincts_."

"Yep," Kiba said, nodding. "She's a keeper."

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "Whatever." At that moment, Kohana started crying as well. "Oh no…"

"Sasuke!" Naruto whined. "You woke up the baby!"

Sasuke groaned and banged his head on the desk. _'I'm in hell…'_

***

After first period ended, Sasuke and Naruto went to their next class: Math. Kohana had finally stopped crying because Naruto had guessed that the kid had a messy diaper and was right. They walked down the hall, Naruto with Kohana and the diaper bag, and turned into another classroom.

"So…" Sasuke started, looking at Naruto. "What kind of math is this anyway?"

"Oh this? Asuma-sensei calls it Advanced Calculations and Techniques although the registration sheet said that it's just plain old Advanced Calculus. It doesn't matter what you call it though," Naruto said sadly. "It doesn't stop me from failing it."

"So then why are you taking the class?" Sasuke wondered, not wanting to see the blond so sad.

"Well…" Naruto hesitated. "Iruka-sensei took this class when he was in school, and I just want him to be proud of me for accomplishing something. But I don't think that's gonna happen…" He finished with a sigh.

"Well, if you suck so bad at it, then why don't you get a tutor or something?"

"'Cause no one wants to teach me. And if they do, they explain it in some scientifical way that I can't understand."

"I'll help you," Sasuke sighed. "In my old town, I won the regional grade school math competition. I would've gone to national, but I felt it was a waste of time."

"Woah," Naruto said, amazed. "You took algebra in grade school?"

"Yep," Sasuke said. "Advanced Calculus is nothing."

"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto replied gratefully.

Finally, the teacher, an middle-aged man with dark hair that trailed down the sides of his head and covered his chin, walked into the room.

"That's Asuma-sensei," Naruto whispered to Sasuke. "He's Kurenai-sensei's husband."

Sasuke yawned in response. "That's nice."

Second period passed by slowly for some reason to Sasuke. They had three pages of advanced algebra to complete for homework. It didn't matter to Sasuke, he would breeze through it in less than twenty minutes. But it wasn't him that he was thinking about; it was Naruto. The blond had already said that he basically sucked at math and needed help and in addition to that, he still had to turn in pictures to the photographer. Sasuke was in for a busy night. But before that, he had to pick up his lazy older brother's slack and go get groceries. This project wasn't all that bad because the hospital had volunteered to actually pay Sasuke for his time there as well as signing off his volunteer hours so Sasuke could go get things that were needed around the house. After all, he couldn't depend on the Akatsuki all the time.

After class, Sasuke waited outside the classroom for Naruto, who had decided to talk to Shikamaru before he came out. Finally, Sasuke saw the blond.

"Sasuke, you're going to help me with our homework, right?" Naruto asked.

"Of course," Sasuke answered. "I just have to go to the store real quick and pick up groceries, okay?"

"Uh, okay."

"I'll meet you at my house in thirty minutes!" Sasuke called as he ran out the door.

"O…kay," Naruto said distractedly. He was brought back to reality from a tiny whimper coming from Kohana. "I know, Kohana," he said softly, beginning to bounce her. "I miss Daddy, too."

***

Half an hour later, Naruto stood outside Sasuke's house holding Kohana. _'Sasuke's late,'_ he thought. "He better start getting serious about taking care of you," Naruto told the doll disappointedly. He looked up when he saw a red Mustang and a black pick-up truck pull into the driveway. Naruto knew the red Mustang was Itachi's and that he had Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori in it, but he didn't recognize the two people in the cab of the truck or the other four in the back.

Itachi opened his door and saw Naruto. "Hey, Naru-kun," he greeted. "Where's little bro?"

"He went to get groceries," Naruto told him, still looking at the truck.

Itachi noticed his distraction and looked over at the truck as well. "That's the other members of the Akatsuki," he told Naruto.

"Hey, whose the runt?" a guy with an unhealthy amount of piercings asked as he jumped out of the back of the truck.

"One of Sasuke's friends," Itachi said, then turning to Naruto he added. "That's Pein. He's one of my guitar players."

"You play guitar, too?" Naruto asked, amazed.

"Uh…yeah?" Pein answered.

"Oh! I know you!" Naruto suddenly cried, pointing to a blue-haired girl.

"You…do?" she asked.

"Yeah, you're Konan! I saw you on the video! You're an amazing singer!"

"Yep," she said, looking at Itachi. "I'm guessing Itachi showed you our previous works."

"Yeah," Naruto replied, his eyes shining. "You play guitar, too, right?"

"That's right."

"Wow," Naruto said, before looking at the others. "Who's everyone else?"

"Well," Itachi started pointing to a guy wearing an orange and black mask. "That's Tobi. He used to be one of our background singers, but in the past couple days, he's started breaking into random song during practice."

"So what does he do now?" Naruto asked.

"He works backstage with Kakuzu," Itachi said. "Now that," he pointed to a guy with really light hair and magenta colored eyes, "is Hidan. He plays the electric guitar, too. Then that's Kakuzu and that's Zetsu." Kakuzu, Naruto noticed, didn't say anything and obviously preferred to stay hidden under his head covering and Zetsu seemed to suffer from bipolar disorder, which actually matched his half black and half white face (seriously I mean the colors). "Kakuzu, as I mentioned before, works backstage, and Zetsu plays keyboard."

"Cool," Naruto said. "Are you guys gonna practice?"

"That's right," Deidara cut in, bounding up to Naruto. "Me and Sori wrote a new song so we were going to try it out."

"No, we aren't," Sasori said, snatching a piece of paper away from Deidara.

"But it's good!" Deidara whined.

"A bunch of lines talking about butterflies and pancakes is not a song," Sasori told him. "It's gibberish. We're a rock band, remember?"

"Meanie," Deidara mumbled.

"Actually," Konan said to Naruto, "we're going to work on our single. We had a concert last night and everyone seemed to like it."

"Can I hear it?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Sure," replied Itachi. "Let's go."

***

Itachi strummed the last few notes and a blue spotlight shone on him then faded. The Akatsuki had just finished playing _Rock This Town_ for Naruto and now the blond was totally captivated by the song.

"That was so _cool_!" he shouted.

"Thank you," said Itachi, taking his guitar off from around him and setting it on a stand. "I'm glad you liked it. So…what is it you and Sasuke are supposed to be doing?"

"Well, first off, we were going to work on our algebra homework and then I had to send in pictures for a photographer."

Itachi perked up at this. "A…photographer, you say?" he asked mischievously.

Deidara leaned in to Sasori. "I have a bad feeling about this," he whispered.

Itachi frowned playfully at Deidara then turned back to Naruto. "So tell me about this photographer."

"Well, for our project in homeroom, we have a partner and a kid and we have to have jobs to support our family. Whatever job we have, we have to go volunteer at that place and collect hours that we convert into pay. I have a model, but they said that they have to see if I have the…the…"

"Potential?" Itachi asked, amused.

"Yeah! Potential. So in order to do that, they said that I have to send in pictures of myself and references, but I didn't have that so that's what Sasuke was going to help me with."

"Well, I think we have some time," Itachi declared, turning to the band. "I'm gonna help little Naru-kun here with his pictures."

"Uh, Itachi," Kisame started. "I don't think that's such a good idea. You know how you—" he stopped when Itachi turned, winked at him, then left the basement.

'_This is not going to end well,'_ Kisame thought, banging his head on the drums.

Meanwhile, Itachi had led Naruto up to his room and closed the door. Naruto was nearby watching Itachi as he rummaged through the closet. "Here we go," he said suddenly, straightening back up. "_This_ is what you're gonna wear." And he held up an orange, one-piece outfit.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a fox costume," Itachi said calmly. "The ears and tail are over there in the drawer. This was Sasuke's Halloween costume a few years ago."

"You want me to wear that for the pictures?" Naruto asked confused.

"Yep!" Itachi said. "Here go ahead and try it on. I won't look." He turned around and grabbed a mirror off of his dresser. Then secretly, he angled it so he could see Naruto clearly as the blond undressed. _'Oh, you definitely picked a good one, little brother,'_ Itachi thought.

Naruto pulled on the costume then took out the ears and tail and put them on as well. Then he looked at himself in the mirror and tilted his head. "Are you sure this is okay, Ita-san?" he asked.

Itachi quickly put down the mirror and turned around. _'Damn…he actually looks hot in that.'_ "I-it's fine, Naruto," Itachi told him. "Now we're going to do some poses and take the pictures, okay?"

"Okay!"

***

Sasuke walked back to the house with about five grocery bags. It had taken longer than he had thought to get all the groceries, but that was to be expected since he had to do it all by himself. _'I hope Naruto hasn't left yet…crap! Naruto!'_ Fortunately for him, he didn't have very far to walk. Unfortunately, as soon as he got to the house, he noticed that not only Itachi was home, but Konan's truck was parked in the driveway as well. _'Hopefully the band is keeping him occupied,'_ he thought as he opened the door. Much to his disappointment, all he heard from the basement was silence. _'This is not good,'_ he thought, setting the groceries down in the kitchen. Then he opened the door to the basement and went down.

The whole band was just standing around, talking. Konan was leaning on her guitar stand, talking to Pein, Deidara and Sasori were just sitting around on the stage, and the others had started a game of go-fish. "What's going on here?" Sasuke asked them. "Where's Itachi?"

"Uh…" Kisame hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "You see…"

"He has Naruto, doesn't he?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," Kisame said with a sigh.

Sasuke stood in silence for a minute before yelling "Damn it!" and stomping back up the stairs. He ran to the second floor where his and Itachi's rooms were. Itachi's door was closed, confirming Sasuke's hunch. He frowned then walked over to the door. As he was about to open it, someone else on the other side beat him to it and the door opened revealing Itachi.

Itachi looked slightly shocked at seeing his brother outside of his door. _'Did he hear anything?'_ The older Uchiha wondered, but he soon relaxed when Sasuke confronted him.

"Where's Naruto?"

Itachi smirked. "He's in here," he replied, moving aside and pointing to the blond on his bed. "He's asleep."

Sasuke turned his head to look at his brother. "Why is he asleep?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because I was helping him with his pictures," Itachi said as innocently as he could.

"Liar," Sasuke countered. "Let me see the pictures then."

Itachi shrugged then walked over to his dresser. There were two stacks of pictures, one of which Itachi quickly stuck into a pocket inside his Akatsuki robe; the second stack he picked up and walked back to his brother. "Here. See? Nothing's wrong."

Sasuke flipped through the pictures, checking for anything suspicious, but surprisingly he didn't find anything. The pictures were nothing but Naruto doing normal poses in the outfit that Sasuke had chosen for him the night before. Sasuke looked up at his brother, confused. "You didn't…I mean…you?"

Itachi smiled. "Come on, Sasuke. I just wanted to help out a little, geez. Where's the gratitude?"

"Thanks, I guess," Sasuke said, still looking at the pictures.

"I have to get back to the band," Itachi told his brother. "See you around." And with that, Itachi poked his brother in the head and left.

Sasuke stood in his brother's doorway for a few more seconds before walking over to the bed. Naruto seemed peaceful enough, sleeping soundly with his head resting comfortably on the pillow. Sasuke hated to wake him, but he had to find out what was going on. "Naruto," Sasuke called softly, shaking the blond gently. "Naruto, wake up."

Naruto groaned then opened his eyes sleepily. _'Itachi?'_ he wondered. Once his vision cleared, though, Naruto realized that it wasn't Itachi, but Sasuke that had woken him up. "Ah…Sasuke?"

"Hey," Sasuke greeted. "We have math homework or did you forget?"

Naruto sat up and stretched. "Nah, I didn't forget," he said, getting up.

"Let's go, then," Sasuke told him, walking out of the room.

Naruto followed Sasuke to his room, glancing downstairs as he passed the stairway. _'Itachi…'_ he thought. _'What should I say to Sasuke?'_

As soon as the two boys got to Sasuke's room, Sasuke closed the door and looked at Naruto. "All right, Naruto. What happened between you and my brother?"

Naruto lifted his head nervously. He hadn't had time to think about what to say to keep himself (not to mention Itachi) safe. "He was just helping me with my pictures," he answered at last.

"Why were you asleep then?" Sasuke pressed. It just didn't seem like his brother to be so helpful.

"Oh that," Naruto said. This was the question he was dreading. "We had done some work-out exercises to make the pictures more appealing to the photographers. By the time we were done, I was so exhausted I just fell asleep."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, deep in thought. The blond seemed to be telling the truth, but with Itachi you could never be certain. Finally, though, Sasuke sighed in defeat and shook his head. "All right," he said. "Let's work on our homework."

***

Itachi walked back downstairs with a smirk on his face. Sasuke had obviously not noticed the stack of pictures that Itachi had quickly and cunningly hid. _'One point for me,'_ he thought. He opened the basement door and walked down to find the Akatsuki members in the same state that Sasuke had left them: Konan and Pein talking, Deidara and Sasori sitting on the stage (although now Deidara was leaning on Sasori's shoulder asleep), and the others were still playing go-fish. As soon as they saw Itachi come down, though, they quickly stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

"What happened to my band?" Itachi asked jokingly.

"Waiting for you to get back," Sasori responded, gently shaking Deidara awake.

"What took you so long?" Konan asked, although she knew she wouldn't get a straight answer. It just wasn't like Itachi.

"I had…business to attend to," Itachi said with a shrug. "No big deal."

As Itachi walked back to his guitar and took it off the stand, he turned his head to look at Kisame who was looking at him. "What?" Itachi asked, pulling the shoulder strap over his head.

"You're awful," Kisame told him, before starting to tune his guitar (which wasn't really needed).

Itachi chuckled. "Yeah, okay," he said, adjusting his microphone.

"What did you do?" Kisame asked him.

Itachi smirked and stared hard at Kisame for a while before shrugging. "I guess you'll just have to find out," Itachi said mischievously. "All right, we're running through _Rock This Town_ one more time. Ready?"

The other band members looked at each other, but had no time to say anything, as Itachi started. "One, two, three, four!"


	6. Day of Surprises

**Chapter 6: Day of Surprises**

The next day, Naruto woke up in his bed at Iruka's house. After his study session with Sasuke the night before, he really felt like he understood algebra a lot better. _'This is great!'_ he thought. _'I may actually pass!'_ He stretched his arms over his head then sat up. He could smell the scent of bacon, eggs, and coffee from downstairs and knew that Iruka had made breakfast. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed. As he jumped out of bed, he landed in a crouching position and a sharp pain ran up his arms as his hands hit the floor. "Ow. What the…" Naruto lifted his arms and examined his wrists. There he saw dark marks around his wrists, like bruises. "How did…? Oh…" Realization hit him as he remembered what happened at Sasuke's house before the brunette got home. Then, flustered, he shook his head to rid his mind then ran downstairs.

Iruka sat at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand, as he looked at the newspaper. He raised an eyebrow thoughtfully as his eyes rested on an advertisement for a hot spring resort up in the mountains. _'This would be fun. Better call Kakashi,'_ As soon as he set down the newspaper, he heard bumping on the stairs and Naruto ran into the room. "Good morning, Iruka!" the blond called energetically.

"Good morning, Naru-kun," Iruka said smiling. "You're up early. And full of energy, too."

"I just feel good this morning," Naruto told him, getting a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator.

"That's good," Iruka laughed. "Hey, Naruto…"

"Hm?" Naruto looked at Iruka from behind the glass that was against his lips.

"How would you like to go to a hot spring resort?"

"Hot spring…resort?" Naruto repeated. "Why?"

"Well," Iruka explained. "It's about time to plan the class trip so I thought I would suggest Mizura Mountain Resort to the council."

"Yeah?!" Naruto was starting to get excited. He had never been to a hot spring resort and if it was a _class_ trip then that meant Sasuke would be coming, too! "Let's go!"

***

Sasuke walked to school, carrying Kohana. It was his turn to watch the kid and, surprisingly, she didn't cry all that much. After Naruto had left, all Sasuke had to do was feed her then she went straight to sleep.

He got to the school about three minutes later and saw Naruto walking with Iruka. The blond seemed ultra cheery this morning so that was a good sign. Mostly because that meant that Itachi hadn't bothered him too much. "Hey, Naruto," Sasuke called.

Naruto looked over and waved at Sasuke. "Hi, Sasuke! Was Kohana good?"

"Like an angel," Sasuke said as he caught up to Naruto.

"Good, oh, hey, Sasuke, guess what?"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Nuh-uh, Naruto," Iruka said, waving a finger. "It's our secret till later."

Naruto nodded and looked back at Sasuke. "Sorry, Sasuke!"

Sasuke watched the blond follow Iruka inside with curiosity. Whatever Naruto had wanted to tell him was evidently very surprising. Sasuke could tell that much just by looking at the way the blond's eyes danced with secrecy and excitement. He finally just shrugged it off and walked in to the classroom then took the seat next to Naruto. A little while later, Kakashi knocked on the door, peeked in, and motioned to Iruka. Iruka smiled and walked out of the room to the silver-haired teacher.

Naruto looked at the door with an eyebrow raised suspiciously. "What are they…?"

A moment later, Iruka came back in the room and held a thumbs-up to Naruto. "All right!" the blond yelled, jerking his arm backwards in a thrusting motion.

Sasuke looked at him curiously, then back at Iruka as the brunette got the attention of the class.

"Settle down!" Once he got the class more or less quieted down, Iruka passed out a folded pieced of paper. "Keep them face down until I say so," Iruka told them. After he passed out all the papers, he walked back to the front of the classroom and stood behind his desk. "As you all know, the time is almost here for us to take our class trip. An idea hit me earlier this morning and I talked it over with the school council. Flip your papers over now."

The sounds of rustling paper filled the room, but was suddenly replaced by excited squeals and yells. "That's right!" Iruka said. "We're going to Mizura Mountain Resort!"

"No way!" Sakura and Ino squealed at the same time. It was clear that the trip wasn't the main thing on their mind since they were looking at Sasuke and drooling.

Sasuke shuttered inwardly as he diverted his gaze back to Iruka.

"Now there are some things that need to happen," Iruka said, quieting the class down again. "First, we're going to need some extra chaperones…about two I think. All the teachers can't leave at once on the same trip. There's not enough substitutes to fill in."

"So then which teachers _are_ going?" Hinata spoke up.

"Kakashi-sensei and I will be the only teachers accompanying you guys to the resort. So if you will, please take out a piece of paper and write down the name of anyone you know that would be available for the trip."

Sasuke took out a piece of paper and split it with Naruto. Then he held the pen up to his lips and tapped his mouth in thought. He couldn't put down Itachi, or rather, he _wouldn't_. That'd just be asking for disaster. _'I'll put down Konan,'_ he thought. Konan was a good friend of Sasuke's and she could tolerate kids…after all, she put up with the Akatsuki all day.

"All right," Iruka said at last. "One more thing. The trip is in three weeks. Now, pass your papers forward and we'll start our lesson for today."

***

Sasuke stood outside the bathroom as he waited for Naruto. It was the lunch hour and Sasuke had planned to take Naruto to the barbeque place near the park for lunch. A moment later, Naruto came out with a grin on his face.

"What?" Sasuke asked him.

"Oh nothing," Naruto said cunningly. "Except for the fact that this is the second time this week, you've taken me out to lunch."

Sasuke blushed slightly and looked away. "That's what friends are for," he said.

"Yeah," Naruto said doubtfully, still grinning. "If you say so."

A little while later, Sasuke and Naruto sat on a bench in the park as they munched on their barbeque. They had gotten it to go so they could talk in a peaceful area.

"So…" Naruto started.

"So what?" Sasuke asked.

"So what do you think about the trip?"

"Oh that," replied Sasuke as he chomped on a piece of meat. "I think it'd be fun."

"Did you put Itachi down for a chaperone?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Sasuke practically choked on his food. Why was Naruto asking if he had put Itachi down? Surely the blond knew that Sasuke hated his brother with an undying passion. "Hell no," the brunette finally replied. "Why would I do that? I picked Konan."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking to the side.

Sasuke was not liking where this was going. "Who did you pick?" he asked the blond.

"Oh, I picked Jiraiya. He's like my second dad. A little on the perverted side, but he's okay."

"I think we'll be fine," Sasuke said. _'As long as no surprises come up.'_

The lunch break ended quickly and soon it was time for Science. Sasuke walked into the room and saw a female teacher with wavy black hair and red eyes talking to Asuma.

"That's Kurenai-sensei," Naruto whispered from next to him. "The one that's married to Asuma-sensei."

"I can see that," Sasuke responded.

The two teens sat down as the bell rang. Asuma sighed, kissed Kurenai on the cheek, then left. Kurenai watched him leave, then turned to her class. "All right guys! You're gonna love Science today! We're dissecting!"

***

Sasuke walked to the hospital by himself after school. Naruto had said that there was something he had to do right after school, so the two had gone their separate ways. The brunette had honestly had about all he could stand of seeing the insides squeezed out of bodies considering that was all Kiba and Naruto did during the dissection in Science, but he forced himself to go to work anyway. Sasuke sighed as he walked in to the hospital and knocked on a door. "I'm here, Dr. Hikata."

Meanwhile, Naruto stood in the park alone. He had run home and changed into a sleeveless black shirt and tight brown jeans before telling Iruka that he was meeting Sasuke here and was going to work on his History report, but in reality that was far from the truth. Naruto sighed and sat down on the bench. _'What am I doing here?'_ he wondered for the second time that night. Just as he was about to get up, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "So you came after all."

The blond turned around and saw Itachi standing behind him. A blush immediately formed across his face as the older man lifted up his chin and kissed him gently on the lips. "Seems you're used to it now," Itachi said with a smirk. Naruto just nodded hesitantly.

"Well, come on," Itachi told the blond. "Movies don't just teleport themselves, you know."

The Uchiha led Naruto to a nearby movie theatre and paid for the tickets. "Two, please," he told the dealer.

After getting popcorn and drinks, the two found seats inside one of the theatres and settled down. Itachi casually placed an arm around Naruto and pulled him closer to him. This only made Naruto blush and he suddenly recalled the night before.

_Flashback_

After Naruto had tried on the fox costume to make sure it fit, Itachi told him to go get the outfit that Sasuke had given him the day before and to put it on. Later, after pictures had been taken of the blond in the casual clothes, Itachi told him to put the costume back on.

"You're gonna send pictures of me in a fox costume to a photography studio?" Naruto asked him.

Itachi chuckled. "No, silly. This is for me."

Naruto looked at Itachi cluelessly but put the costume back on nonetheless.

"Good," Itachi said softly, before backing Naruto into the wall.

The blond looked up at Itachi nervously with a blush on his face and unintentionally let out a whimper.

Itachi smirked. "Sh…I'm not going to hurt you, Naru-kun," he said soothingly into the blond's ear. "We're just going to play around a bit."

"What?" Naruto asked. Itachi pressing his body against his was already starting to make him uncomfortable, but now the Uchiha's lips brushed against his ear and that added to Naruto's anxiety.

Itachi smirked and attached a collar around the blond's neck.

"What're you—" Naruto started, but he was cut off by Itachi pressing his mouth against his own. The blond squeaked in surprise, but could do nothing more since Itachi had both of Naruto's wrists in the grasp of one hand. "I told you I won't hurt you," Itachi said gently. Then he attached a leash to the collar as he kissed the blond again. When he pulled away again, he smiled at the still shocked blond. "Now…" Itachi started, putting a hand on the back of Naruto's neck. "Sit." And he pushed the blond down onto his hands and knees in front of him.

Naruto squeaked as he hit the ground and looked up at Itachi. "I-Itachi?"

"All right, then," Itachi said, wrapping the leash around his hand. "If you be a good little kitsune, and do everything I say, we won't have any trouble."

Naruto looked up at Itachi with worried, blue eyes. He had no clue what was going on, but he had a feeling that it would not be good.

Itachi grabbed his camera and, taking advantage of Naruto's puzzled state, snapped a picture.

The flash quickly brought Naruto back to his senses and he looked at the camera in Itachi's hands. "You're really taking pictures?"

Itachi smiled. "Of course. You look too cute to just let this occasion pass by."

"I hope that's a compliment," Naruto said, stretching his arms forward like a cat. Another flash. "Hey."

"What?" Itachi asked smirking. "Come here," and to emphasize his order, he gave the leash a rough tug.

Naruto jerked forward and crouched in front of the Uchiha. "That hurt," he whined.

"Aw," Itachi said, kneeling down and giving Naruto a quick peck on the lips. "I'm sorry."

Naruto, at this point, had slightly gotten used to the sudden kisses that came up, but the fact that he was still on his hands and knees in front of a twenty-three year old brunette still made him nervous.

Itachi stood back up and motioned for Naruto to do the same. Then he wrapped the leash loosely around the blond's wrists and pushed him down on his knees. _'A couple bondage pictures couldn't hurt,'_ Itachi thought seductively. He snapped a quick picture then led Naruto over to the bed where he tied the leash to the edge of the bed frame so that Naruto was sitting against the bed with his arms above his head. _'Perfect,'_ he thought. Then he walked over and unbuttoned the costume slowly, making Naruto whimper. Finally, he undid the last button and slid it off the blond's naturally tanned shoulders (though he had to untie him from the bed to do it) then slowly slid the rest of the costume off of Naruto's lower half.

Naruto shivered as the cold air hit his skin and looked back at Itachi. Naruto thought that if Itachi tried anything like this, he would be able to stop him, but for some reason he couldn't or, rather he didn't _want_ to. He began to panic though, when Itachi took the edge of his boxers and pulled them off as well.

Itachi noticed an increase in the blond's breathing patterns and ran his hands against Naruto's sides. "It's okay, Naruto. I won't do _that_ yet." But what he did do didn't help the situation at all. Itachi sat down on the blond's lap and brushed his lips against his neck. Naruto let out a shaky breath as Itachi gently nipped his neck then flicked his tongue over the fresh bite marks. It wasn't until now that Naruto realized that Itachi had been taking his own clothes off as he pleasured the blond. The Uchiha leaned back and took a picture of the captivated blond before moving forward and continuing where he left off on Naruto's neck.

Naruto tried his best not to show any signs of enjoyment, but it wasn't working and he let out a small moan causing Itachi to smile. The brunette then moved away from Naruto's neck and to his collarbone and repeated the treatment. Just when Naruto was starting to give in, Itachi stopped. Naruto turned his head to look at the smiling brunette. "Look at you," Itachi chuckled. "You're enjoying this more than I intended."

Naruto blushed and looked away. "Why'd you stop?" he asked softly.

"Sasuke will be home soon," Itachi said. "I'd be in deep shit if he caught me. Go get your clothes back on and I'll clean up here."

Naruto hesitated. "Itachi?"

"Yeah?" Itachi asked, throwing the costume back into the closet.

"Should I tell Sasuke?"

Itachi smiled and walked over to Naruto to undo the collar. "I would prefer he not know at all, but you can tell him if you want." Noticing the blond's still distracted look, he lifted up his chin and kissed him. "Tell you what, I'll take you out somewhere after school tomorrow and we'll just hang out, okay?"

"What about the band?" Naruto asked.

"I can cancel practice tomorrow. Not a big deal. I'll meet you at the park after school. Now go rest up."

"Okay," Naruto said and he crawled onto Itachi's bed and fell asleep.

_Reality_

Itachi had noticed Naruto's distracted look and ruffled his hair. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing!" Naruto said, blushing.

"You didn't tell Sasuke, did you?"

"No!" Naruto told him quickly. "I thought it would cause trouble if I did."

Itachi smiled and kissed the blond on the cheek. "Let's just enjoy the movie," he said.

***

Naruto and Itachi walked out of the movie around 7:00. Itachi had his arm around Naruto's shoulders and Naruto was pressed against his side casually. Itachi looked down at the blond and laughed. "You still look scared out of your mind, Kitsune-chan."

Naruto pouted and looked back up at Itachi. "I do not!" he protested. "That movie wasn't scary."

"Then would you mind explaining why you had your face pressed against my chest for more than half the movie?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but closed it when he realized that he couldn't defend himself. "So?" was all he managed to say.

Itachi chuckled. "Are you hungry?" he asked the blond.

"A little," Naruto replied. "Are you taking me to dinner?"

"That I am," Itachi told him. "What do you want to eat?"

"Can we go somewhere quiet?" Naruto asked.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Naruto started. "I heard about this new pasta place in center Konoha. I've never had pasta before…except ramen of course."

"You've never had spaghetti?" Itachi asked in amazement. Naruto shook his head. "Well then that's where we'll go."

The two walked through town until they got to the Italian restaurant that Naruto mentioned. Naruto lifted up his head and sniffed deeply. "Mmm…smells good."

"Come on, kitsune. It's already 7:30. I can't have you out that much longer, you know."

"Coming!" Naruto ran after Itachi and followed him into the restaurant. Inside was fancy with dark red wallpaper, chandeliers, and candle stand in the middle of each table. Soft music played overhead, and Naruto closed his eyes to listen to it. He opened his eyes again when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Itachi looking down at him. "Is this what you had in mind?" the brunette asked.

Naruto nodded. "It's perfect!"

"Excuse me, monsieur," a suited host asked with a French accent. "How many?"

"Two, please," Itachi said.

"Very good. This way, please."

As they followed the host, Naruto tugged on Itachi's shirt. "I thought this was an Italian restaurant," Naruto whispered. "That guy's French."

"International?" Itachi guessed.

Naruto nodded but said nothing else as they arrived at their table. "Would you care for a lighted candle?" the host asked politely as he laid two menus on the table.

Itachi glanced over at Naruto then nodded to the host. "_Oui_, please," he answered.

As the host walked away, Naruto looked at Itachi in amazement. "I didn't know you spoke French."

"Very little," Itachi told him, opening the menu. "Now…what should we get? I'm treating you so don't worry about the price."

"I already chose!" Naruto said proudly.

"Really, now? What did you pick?"

"I'm gonna get the spaghetti and breadsticks."

"That sounds good," Itachi told him. "I think I'll get the seafood and chicken alfredo."

A waiter soon arrived with a match and lit the candle in the middle of the table, then pulled out a notepad and turned to the two. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes," Itachi said. "I'll have the seafood and chicken alfredo and a strawberry margarita."

Naruto glanced at Itachi before ordering his food. "And I want the spaghetti and breadsticks and a Coke please."

"Very good, monsieurs. I will be out momentarily with your food."

As the waiter walked away, Itachi leaned his head on his hands and looked at the blond across from him. "So, I hear there's a class trip coming up."

Naruto looked up at him. "Oh, yeah. We're going to Mizura Mountain Resort."

"Oh, a hot spring, huh?"

"Yeah, Iruka saw an ad in the paper this morning and thought it would be a good place to go."

"I see," Itachi said thoughtfully.

"The only thing is, we don't have enough adults to supervise the trip. Only Iruka and Kakashi are coming so far."

"Is that so?" This conversation had just gotten interesting.

A few minutes later, the waiter returned with the two meals.

"This looks good!" Naruto said, taking in the smell of his spaghetti. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells!" Then, looking at Itachi he added, "Are you sure you should be drinking that? Alcohol's bad for you, you know."

Itachi chuckled and took the glass from his lips. "Don't worry, kitsune, I can hold my liquor quite well."

"If you say so," Naruto said, twisting his fork in his spaghetti. Then he lifted it up and stuffed a whole clump of noodles in his mouth. "This is good," he said in a muffled voice.

Itachi smirked as he noticed part of a noodle hanging out of the blond's mouth. He leaned forward and kissed Naruto while at the same time biting off the edge of pasta that was sticking out, making Naruto blush and almost choke.

"Don't die," Itachi said, sticking a piece of shrimp in his mouth.

Naruto swallowed and glared at Itachi. "I wouldn't if you stopped pulling moves like that," he said.

Itachi smiled. "I'm sorry," he told him. The two were quiet for a little while longer until Itachi broke the silence. "Naruto, do you like me?"

Naruto looked up from his food. "Of course I like you," he said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No, I mean _like me_, like me."

"Huh?" The blond blushed and looked down at his plate. "Oh. Y-yeah…well, I think so…uh…"

"Then would you consider being my boyfriend?"

Naruto stared at Itachi, stunned. "W-what about Kisame? Or…or Sasuke?"

"Kisame's my best friend. He's like a brother to me and Sasuke, well…he _is_ my brother. Why, do you like Sasuke?"

"Well," Naruto started. "I _do_ but lately he's been so…I dunno…cold I guess. Like he doesn't really care about my grades or anything. And then sometimes he goes on a rant about how bad a person you are and—"

"Do _you_ think I'm a bad person, Naruto?"

Naruto paused and looked down at his lap. "I…" He squeezed his jeans before looking back up at Itachi. "No, I don't."

Itachi smiled. "Then it's settled?"

Naruto hesitated again for a second then nodded. "Yeah."

***

Sasuke sighed as he walked down the street. It was almost 9:30, but he was on his way to see Naruto anyway. He couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto had been looking a little neglected lately. As he turned the corner onto Naruto's street, he saw two figures walking down the street hand in hand. Sasuke didn't pay any attention until he realized that the two figures had stopped in front of Naruto's house. _'What the--?'_ he thought before hiding behind a nearby tree in the blond's yard. He nearly yelled when he saw that it was his brother with Naruto, but stopped himself and listened.

"I have band practice tomorrow," Itachi was telling the blond. "Are you going to be there?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "School gets out early tomorrow so I'll get lunch then come over."

"Good," replied Itachi. Sasuke practically gagged when he saw Itachi kiss Naruto on the lips, but to his surprise, Naruto did nothing but return it. Then Itachi hugged him and sent the blond away.

Sasuke stayed hidden as Itachi watched the blond enter the house then turned and walked away. The younger Uchiha glared after his brother then punched the tree…hard. _'That bastard,'_ he thought. _'He's gonna regret the day he was ever born into the Uchiha family.'_ And with that, he turned around and headed the long way home.


	7. The Class Trip

**Chapter 7: The Class Trip**

The next day, Naruto walked to school with Iruka. He couldn't wait for school to get out because he was going to go meet Itachi later. Of course, it still felt a little weird considering he still kinda liked Sasuke but was now Itachi's boyfriend.

As soon as the two reached the building, Iruka left to find Kakashi before the bell so Naruto headed to the classroom. He hadn't seen Sasuke in the hallway, so he hoped the Uchiha would be in homeroom. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Sasuke sitting in a seat next to Shikamaru with his head on the desk. "Sasuke!" the blond called. Sasuke lifted up his head, looked at Naruto, then looked away. A confused look came into the blond's eyes. _'What's wrong with him?'_

Naruto walked up and took the seat next to Sasuke. "Hey, did you bring Kohana?"

Sasuke pointed under the desk without even lifting his head up.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?" No response. "Sasuke? Hey, I'm coming by your house today. You want to hang—"

Sasuke slammed his hands on the desk then got up and moved to another seat on the other side of the room.

"Out?" Naruto finished. Then turning to Shikamaru he asked, "Do you know what's wrong?"

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "I have no clue."

After first period, Naruto waited for Sasuke outside the door, but when the brunette finally came out, he walked right past Naruto without a word. Naruto ran after him and caught up. "Sasuke? Are you mad at me?" No answer. "Sasuke?" The blond finally got sick of the silence and cut him off. "Sasuke, answer me!"

"You want an answer?!" Sasuke yelled, causing Naruto to flinch. "Yes, I'm mad! I'm angry beyond reason! _Pissed!_ And you want to know why? It's because I warned you to stay away from Itachi yet you're all cuddle-cuddle with him anyway!"

"W-What do you mean?" Naruto asked, though he knew exactly what Sasuke meant. He had seen the two of them last night.

"I'm talking about last night when Itachi walked you home! You _kissed_ him, Naruto!"

Naruto looked down at the ground. "I…" There was no point in trying to avoid it. Sasuke knew what was going on. _'Might as well tell him the truth.'_ Naruto thought. "Sasuke," he started. "Itachi…asked me to be his boyfriend."

Sasuke stared dumbfounded at the tense blond in front of him. "W-What did you say?"

"Itachi asked me to be his boyfriend and I…I said yes."

Sasuke's hands formed into fists as he stared at the ground. "You…said yes?"

"Mm-hmm," Naruto replied.

Sasuke sighed. "I should've known," he mumbled. Naruto looked up at him. "This always happens. I don't know why this time would be any different." And with that he turned and left.

"Sasuke…" Naruto watched sadly as Sasuke walked away from him.

"Naruto?" a voice called behind him. Naruto turned around and saw Itachi.

"Itachi? What're you doing here?"

"I came to get you. I thought maybe I'd take you out to lunch with the band." Itachi noticed Naruto staring off in the distance. "I'm guessing you told Sasuke?"

Naruto nodded. "I had to. He saw you walk me home last night."

"What else did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I just told him that I was your boyfriend."

Itachi saw a small tear run down the blond's cheek and went over and hugged him. "It'll be okay, Naruto. Come on, let's go."

***

Three weeks passed quickly and soon it was time for the class trip to Mizura Mountain Resort. The senior class was all gathered outside of the school, waiting for their bus to arrive. Naruto swung his duffle bag off his shoulder and let it fall to the ground then sighed. "Whew…I miss Kohana," he said to Shikamaru. The students had just turned their babies in at the beginning of the week and received their grades. He and Sasuke had gotten an A-plus, but the brunette didn't even seem to care since he found out about Itachi and Naruto's relationship. _'Speaking of Sasuke,'_ Naruto thought, looking around.

Shikamaru caught his look. "Sasuke's not here yet," Shikamaru told him.

Naruto sighed and sat down on his bag. "Figures. He's probably not even coming. Hm?" Naruto lifted up his head and saw a red car pulling up to the school. _'Is that..?'_ The blond squinted his eyes to see if he could make out the figures in the car, then gasped excitedly as the doors opened and the people came out. "Sasuke!" he squealed. Then he saw Itachi as well. "Ita-san?"

Itachi came over and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Hey. Hope you don't mind, but I'm coming along on this trip."

"Wha--? You are?!" Naruto asked.

"Yep. Konan came down with bronchitis, so she asked me to fill in for her as a chaperone."

"She was going to come?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Itachi answered. "The school called her and asked her to chaperone, but as I said, she has bronchitis. _He_," he motioned to Sasuke, "isn't too happy though."

Naruto could tell that much at least. Sasuke was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed like he was about to kill someone.

"So who else is coming?" Itachi asked the blond.

Naruto looked up at him. "My guardian, Jiraiya is coming, I think," he said.

"Anyone else?"

"Nuh-uh, the school didn't ask anyone else. Either that or everyone else was too busy."

"Well this'll be fun." Itachi said, walking back to his car. "I have to get my bag. Tell your teacher I'm here."

"I will," Naruto said before glancing over at Sasuke again. _'Guess he's still mad.'_

A few minutes later, the bus arrived and Iruka and Kakashi gathered everyone in front of the bus. "All right, guys," Iruka started. "This is a five day trip so I advice you to get to know each other now, because you could very possibly be rooming together."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke who was talking to Ino. Sasuke glanced over and caught Naruto's eye then turned his back and continued talking.

"Yep…still mad," he whispered. He turned to Itachi who was next to him and leaned against his side. Itachi looked down at Naruto then over at his brother who was giving him another death glare. Itachi frowned and put his hand on Naruto's head. "Don't worry about that little dick-head, kiddo, okay?"

"I'll try," Naruto said softly.

After Iruka finished talking about random things that the students needed to know, Kakashi took a step forward with a piece of paper in his hands. "All right so here are the pairs for rooms: Sakura and Tenten will be in room 500, Shikamaru and Choji will be in room 501, Ino and Hinata are in room 502, Shino and Kiba in room 503, Neji and Lee, room 504, Naruto and Sasuke room 505, and—"

"What?!" Sasuke and Itachi yelled simultaneously.

"Is something wrong?" Iruka asked.

"No, I guess," Itachi mumbled when Naruto elbowed him in the side.

Sasuke frowned then shook his head.

"Right," Kakashi continued. "Iruka and I will be in Room 506, Jiraiya in Room 507, and Konan in Room 508."

Itachi raised his hand. "Um…Konan's not here. She came down with bronchitis at the last minute so I'm here instead. My name's Itachi Uchiha."

"Uchiha, huh?" said Iruka. "Sasuke's brother, I presume?"

"That's right."

"Oh wow!" Ino whispered to Sasuke. "He looks just like you! Is he single?"

Sasuke frowned at her. "No. He's taken. You wouldn't like him anyway."

"Why not?" Ino asked.

"Because he's twenty-three and a royal pain in the ass."

"Oh." Ino looked back at Itachi then at Sasuke again. "I'm gonna go talk to Hinata, okay?"

"Fine with me," Sasuke responded.

"Okay!" Iruka said, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "So now that everyone knows who they're with, let's get on the bus!"

***

Naruto sat in his seat on the bus and looked out the window. The landscape was slowly changing as the bus traveled along toward its destination. Naruto sighed and looked next to him at Itachi. The Uchiha had his head resting on a pillow against the seat and was breathing softly as he slept.

'_Oh yeah,'_ Naruto thought. _'I forgot Itachi's used to sleeping during the day.'_ "Come to think of it," he yawned. "I'm kinda sleepy myself." Naruto fidgeted a while until he got in a comfortable position then laid his head on Itachi's shoulder and went to sleep.

Across the isle, Sasuke watched Naruto and Itachi sleep. _'Why?'_ he wondered. _'Why does Naruto like him so much?'_ His thoughts were interrupted by Jiraiya tapping him on the shoulder from beside him.

"What's up?" the white-haired man asked him. "You're Sasuke, aren't you?"

"And?" Sasuke replied.

Jiraiya laughed. "Naruto has told me a lot about you, kid."

"Oh, really?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you know him pretty well."

"Oh yeah," Jiraiya answered, scratching his head. "Naruto stays with me on the weekends. Even so, the brat calls me like everyday to tell me what's going on in his life. This last time though," he glanced at Sasuke, "all he could talk about was you."

Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah right. I doubt that. Ever since he met my brother, he's been attached to him like glue."

"Oh," Jiraiya said, raising his head to look at the sleeping brunette across the isle. "So that's Naru-kun's boyfriend."

"Yes," replied Sasuke through gritted teeth.

Jiraiya noticed his reaction then smiled. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder then leaned in close. "You like him, too…don't you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke stiffened then looked down. "Why would I?"

"Just wondering," Jiraiya said, leaning back in his seat. "But just so you know. I can read your expression plain as day."

Sasuke looked over at Jiraiya, who raised an eyebrow at him, then sighed and leaned his head back on the seat. "You don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled.

Jiraiya watched Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, then smiled and closed his eyes and dozed off.

About forty-five minutes later, the bus pulled up to the resort: a large, five story building built into a mountain, surrounded by luscious, green plants and trees.

Naruto jumped out of the bus before anyone else, and looked around in awe. "This is amazing!" he exclaimed, before taking off toward the resort building.

Itachi reached out a hand and grabbed the back of the blond's collar. "Not so fast, squirt," Itachi told him, pulling him against his body. "We need instructions from your teacher."

Naruto blushed then nodded. Itachi smiled and let go of Naruto just as everyone else piled off the bus. Iruka and Kakashi got off last and stood together as the kids gathered around them. "Okay," Iruka started. "For those of you who haven't been to Mizura before, this building here is the main resort building where all of the rooms are located. Remember, our rooms are located on the fifth floor so don't get lost. The actual hot springs are in two places: some are inside the mountain and others are outside in that direction." He pointed to an area fenced off with a large wooden fence. The springs are open at any time but make sure you're in your rooms by 11:00."

"And if you want to sneak out that badly," Kakashi said with a wink (although no one could see it), "just make sure we don't hear you. There's a cafeteria here and everything so it'll be just like home…with some of your best and not-so-best friends. Okay?"

"Yeah!" All the kids yelled.

Naruto giggled in excitement. "This is so cool!"

"All right! Get out of here!" And with that, everyone charged into the building.

Naruto was the first to burst through the doors of the resort, Itachi close on his heels. The blond couldn't keep still, looking every which way and hopping around like a bunny on crack. Itachi sighed, a smile on his face, and pushed Naruto gently toward the elevator. "Come on, kitsune, we need to get you unpacked."

The idea suddenly snatched the excitement from Naruto's face. "Oh…" he said, looking down at the floor.

Itachi squeezed Naruto's shoulder gently. "I know, baby, it'll be okay. I'll come with you to your room for a little, okay?"

Naruto nodded, stunned, at the sudden very affectionate term, and he let Itachi lead him into the elevator. As the doors were closing, the blond caught the eye of Sasuke and he couldn't help but flinch against Itachi at the cold, hard stare. The older Uchiha looked up and gave his brother the same cold stare, only five times worse and Sasuke was forced to look away or get stared, almost quite literally, to death.

Itachi turned away and, dragging Naruto with him, went up to the fifth floor.

***

"But I'm hungry _now_, Ita-san!" Naruto complained childishly.

The two were in Itachi's room, currently in a debate about whether Naruto should shower first then eat, or eat first then shower later. Naruto was pretty convinced that he should get a decent meal before cleaning up, but Itachi wasn't giving in yet. "I don't think so, Naru-kun," he said sternly. "You should always go to the table clean." Or at least, that was what his mother always told him.

Naruto stood pouting for a moment before sighing and turning toward the bathroom, his face to the ground. "Fine…I guess…if that's what best…" he sniffed dramatically.

Itachi sighed. He hated when the blond got like this…not because it was annoying, no, but because it was so damn _adorable_ that it was hard to resist. "Alright, Naruto, let's go eat."

"Yes!!" Naruto exclaimed before dashing out of the room.

Itachi shook his head and put a hand over his face. "What am I going to do with him?"

A couple seconds later, Naruto came back and poked his head in the doorway. "Come on, Ita-san! There's lots of food downstairs!"

Itachi laughed softly to himself then followed the blond downstairs to the awaiting buffet.

After eating, Itachi carried the now sleeping Naruto upstairs to his room. He set the blond down gently outside the doorway and shook him softly.

Naruto moaned and opened his eyes. "That…was the most amazing…delicious food I've ever had," he said with a smile.

Itachi shook his head. "And you went right to sleep on the table afterwards." He laughed. "We're at your room."

Naruto blinked then looked up and saw the room number above his head. "Oh…thank you."

"You're welcome," Itachi told him. "Now go on and get cleaned up for bed."

Naruto stood up and hugged Itachi. "Thank you for caring for me," he said softly. Then he stood on his tip-toes, kissed Itachi on the cheek, and walked into his room.

Itachi stood, surprised that the blond made a move first, then turned and went into his own room.

***

Naruto came out of the bathroom humming, a towel wrapped around his dripping wet blond hair.

"What are you so happy about?" an annoyed voice asked. Naruto looked up in shock.

"S-Sasuke?!"

"Who else would it be, dobe?" Sasuke replied, straightening up from where he was leaning on the wall. "This is my room too, remember? Oh, wait, I bet you were thinking you were rooming with Itachi."

Naruto frowned and turned away to the bed that he had set his bag on. "Quit being such a dick, Sasuke," he said in his own annoyed tone.

Sasuke opened his mouth, about to say something really hurtful when Naruto dropped the towel around his body and Sasuke was greeted with the sight of a gorgeous, sexy, tanned ass. "Uh…" came out of his mouth instead. His doting soon disappeared into disappointment, however, as Naruto pulled on his underwear then his pajama bottoms.

"I'm going to bed," the blond announced. As if Sasuke cared what Naruto did anymore anyway.

Sasuke had to force himself to reply. "Why, 'cause Itachi told you to?"

Naruto exploded. "NO, BECAUSE I'M TIRED!!! QUIT BRINGING ITACHI INTO THIS AND GO FUCK YOURSELF!" He turned and hopped onto his bed then crawled under the covers. "Maybe if you weren't such a slow ass in the first place, _we_ would have ended up together."

Sasuke stopped stunned. "You…you mean that?" he had to ask. Naruto didn't answer. "Naruto?" Nothing. It was obvious this conversation was over, but Naruto had just given the brunette a slight glimmer of hope to look at. So, with that thought in mind, he went under his own covers and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overcome him.


	8. Hike Up the Mountain

_I'm so sorry!!! I've been so busy with school and work that I almost forgot about my stories and fans! Anyway, here's the long awaited Chappie 8. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 8: Hike Up the Mountain**

The next day, Naruto woke up to the sun's rays shining in his face. He groaned in annoyance and covered his head with his pillow. "Stupid sun," he muttered.

"It's time to get up, Naru-kun," Itachi called from the doorway.

"I don't wanna," Naruto mumbled sleepily.

"But, Naru-kun," Itachi started, "it's breakfast time."

Naruto's eyes flew open and he jumped out of bed, sending the covers and the pillow flying to the other side of the room. "Breakfast?!" he said. "Where?! Take me to it, Ita-san, I'm ready!"

Itachi chuckled then walked over to the blond and hugged him. "Good morning to you, too," he said in amusement.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Good morning."

"That's more like it," Itachi told him with a smile. "Now hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is downstairs and if we don't get down there fast, it'll be gone."

"Over my dead body!" Naruto cried, grabbing a T-shirt and jeans and dashing into the bathroom to get changed.

Itachi chuckled as the blond shut the door behind him. "You're still afraid of changing in front of me?"

"Well," came the blond's voice from the other side of the door. He paused for a second, to pull his shirt on, Itachi guessed. "Considering the last time I changed in front of you, you almost molested me…yeah, I'm still afraid."

Itachi crossed his arms as Naruto came out of the bathroom. "Fine then," he said.

"No offense, Ita-san," Naruto told him with a wink, "but you're kinda scary."

"Hm, a scary boyfriend, yeah that makes a lot of sense."

"Does to me!" Naruto said, grabbing Itachi's arm. "Now come on, I'm hungry."

***

"OH WOW!" Naruto exclaimed. He was sitting next to Itachi at a humongous buffet table loaded with rice, pancakes, scrambled eggs, waffles, and any other breakfast food imaginable. "This is great! Dig in!" He grabbed his fork and began loading his plate with food.

Itachi merely took a sip of his fruit juice. "Take it easy, Naruto," he told the blond, being careful not to be too affectionate in front of the others. "You don't want to be sick on the hike."

"I'll be fine!" Naruto assured him.

Itachi frowned in concern. Today the group was taking a hike in the Mizura Mountains by way of a wildlife trail. The hike was nearly three miles…one way. So in all, the hike would be close to six miles. Itachi sighed. Maybe he had nothing to worry about like the blond said and his fast metabolism would take care of the whole thing…or maybe he definitely had something to worry about and he would end up carrying Naruto all the way to the nearest medical center. He chuckled at that thought and took another drink of his juice.

Naruto glanced over at him curiously. "What's so funny?" he asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

Itachi smiled. "Nothing. I was just thinking."

Naruto frowned in playful suspicion then shoved a spoonful of applesauce into his mouth.

At that time, Iruka and Kakashi came down to the main floor, followed closely by Jiraiya. Kakashi seemed nonchalant, but Iruka had this look on his face like he was being haunted and had a humongous blush on his face…Jiraiya looked almost smug.

"A-Alright, guys," Iruka spoke up, giving a nervous glance in Jiraiya's direction. "We'll be leaving for the hike in twenty minutes so make sure you have everything you need: water bottles, jackets, boots—"

"With _rubber_ soles," Jiraiya burst in with a wink, overemphasizing the word 'rubber'.

Kakashi chuckled softly unlike Iruka. "Anyway," he said loudly, hoping no one had heard, "just be sure you're ready in time."

Kakashi frowned playfully at Jiraiya who laughed then turned to Iruka as the latter sighed and fell into a chair.

Naruto had heard it all and rolled his eyes. "Yaoi bakas…" he mumbled. "What?" he asked Itachi who had one eyebrow raised.

"As if you can talk," the brunette said, setting down his juice. He lowered his voice and added, "You're just as yaoi as they are."

"But I'm not stupid," Naruto said, giving Itachi his most threatening glare…which wasn't very powerful.

Itachi laughed. "No, you're not," he told the blond. "Now hurry up and eat."

Naruto glared at Itachi for a little bit longer then stuck a forkful of eggs in his mouth.

Twenty minutes later, Kakashi and Iruka stood in front of the class outside the main resort building as they got ready to leave. The students were all chattering excitedly and doing last minutes preparations: tying shoes, zipping jackets, closing water bottles, making sure they had their hiking partner…Naruto stopped and looked around. "Ita-san?" he called, but the brunette was nowhere in sight. _'Where did he go?'_ he wondered.

Meanwhile, inside, Itachi leaned against the wall and stared at his brother with a smirk on his face.

Sasuke had just pulled him aside in the lobby, out of Naruto's view, and told him what the blond had said last night. Instead of looking the least bit worried, however, Itachi just looked amused.

"Is that right?" he said, a grin on his face.

Sasuke glared at him and nodded. He had just told him that Naruto had basically said, "If I wasn't going out with Itachi and you asked me, we would go out"…didn't that worry his brother in the least bit?

"Mm, no," Itachi said, reading the look on Sasuke's face. "I'm not worried, kiddo. See you may have looks, but you have one hell of a temper. I have looks, charm, and I actually care for him. Which is probably more than you can say."

"You sorry son of a—"

"Oh, look at the time. Time for the hike. See ya 'round, bro." And he walked off.

It took everything Sasuke had not to grab the nearest chair and mercilessly beat the living shit out of that guy, but instead, he took a deep breath and followed him outside.

"Itachi!" Naruto's clear voice rang out and Sasuke watched as Naruto ran up and threw his arms around his brother. "Where have you been?" Despite what Sasuke would have liked, Naruto looked actually…worried.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto," Itachi told him gently. "I'm here now, so that's all that matters."

Naruto looked up at Itachi for a few seconds then smiled. "Okay!"

And, as much as Sasuke _really_ would like to deny it, Itachi actually looked like he felt guilty for worrying the blond. He shook the thoughts from his head and went to walk by Kiba and Shino.

***

Naruto watched Itachi closely as the brunette stared into space. He had been like this ever since they left the main resort building, not saying a word except for a few muttered agreements here and there when Naruto said something to him. Itachi suddenly looked down and grabbed Naruto and lifted him in the air.

"I-Itachi! What're you--?"

"Sh," Itachi commanded. "I was moving you before you stepped on _that_." He pointed down and Naruto saw a swarm of ground wasps crawling around their nest under some leaves.

"Oh…thanks," he said.

Itachi sighed. Maybe it was a good thing he came on this trip after all.

"Ita-san…what's wrong?"

Itachi looked up to make sure no one was around then sighed. "Naruto…"

Naruto stopped walking. The brunette only called him by his full name when something was bugging him or there were too many people around…and there was no one around. "What is it?" he asked timidly.

"How much…" he sighed again. "How much do you like Sasuke?"

Naruto stared up at Itachi in shock. "W-what?" How could Itachi even bring that up? Surely it had to be obvious that Naruto preferred the older Uchiha. "Why would you ask something like that?"

"Just answer the question," Itachi groaned.

Naruto looked down at the ground. "Not very much," he mumbled.

"Liar."

"Well, not as much as I like you. I mean I like him, but I don't _like_ him."

"Anymore?"

Naruto was silent for a little while. "No…not anymore."

Itachi slapped a hand over his face and sighed. Of course he didn't like Sasuke. The little twerp would blow up every time the blond even got near him…not to mention all the evil death glares. "Right, what was I thinking?" Itachi said before ruffling Naruto's hair. "Come on before they leave us behind."

***

Sasuke watched, annoyed, as Naruto watched a butterfly with excitement in his eyes. But it wasn't Naruto that was pissing him off. Hell, it wasn't even the stupid pink and yellow butterfly that Deidara would've insisted that they keep in his and Sasori's apartment! No, what was _really_ pissing him off was the fact that where ever the blond turned and bounced to, Itachi, that stupid, boyfriend-stealing bastard, kept a firm grip on Naruto's hand.

Naruto followed the butterfly with his eyes and smiled, then stopped as he caught Sasuke's eyes. The two stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime until Sasuke gave the blond a slight smirk and turned away.

Naruto stared in awe. Did Sasuke just _smile_ at him? Okay, so maybe it was more of a smirk, but still! It seemed as though Sasuke had forgiven him! He giggled quietly, resulting in a look from Itachi.

"What?" the older man asked, a smile on his face.

Naruto's smile evaporated. There was no way that he could bring up Sasuke…especially not with the happy look that Itachi had on his face. No, he wasn't going to do that. Instead, the blond replied, "It's a pretty butterfly!!"

Itachi leaned down and wrapped his arms around Naruto. "Mm-hmm, " he murmured. "It is."

Naruto fell silent and stared down at the ground in suppressed guilt. How was he possibly going to make this work?

***

About an hour later, the group arrived to a rest center at the top of the mountain. Naruto had given up walking half way through the trip and had practically begged Itachi to carry him on his back. So now here was Itachi, a grown man, with an unconscious, blond-haired high school student on his back. Itachi sighed and chuckled lightly at the thought. He stopped walking when he felt Naruto fidget and gently set him down.

"You know…you're going to give me back problems making me carry you like this," Itachi joked.

Naruto blinked a couple times then stared at Itachi with sleepy, aqua eyes. "Wha?"

Itachi shook his head. "You really _can_ sleep in any position. That would be a problem during sex you know…"

Naruto's eyes shot open. "What?! Itachi! Don't say stuff like that!"

The brunette dodged to the side and Naruto took a swing at him. "What? I was just saying. It _would _be a problem."

Naruto blushed furiously and lowered his voice. "Sasuke and I didn't even get that far," he whispered harshly.

"I should think not," Itachi said with a smirk. "After all, my brother's a little pansy anyway…there's no way he would've even known what to do. I mean, he'd probably hurt you any—"

"Itachi, can we please talk about something else?" Naruto asked with a pained expression.

Itachi immediately caught the look and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean anything by that."

Naruto sighed and looked down. "I know…It's just…It's still so hard not having him around, even as a friend."

"I know, Naruto," Itachi said, wrapping an around the blond's waist in an attempt to comfort him. "I know."


	9. On the Loose

**Chapter 9:**

Naruto rolled over onto his side and stared off into space. It was already nine o' clock at night, about five hours since the group returned from their hike up the mountain. After Itachi's little comment about Sasuke hurting Naruto during sex, the blond had immediately shut himself down from talking to anyone. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to talk to anyone, it was just that the older brunette's words had struck a nerve in Naruto that was still attached somehow to Sasuke. Naruto sighed and rolled on his back. Sasuke hadn't even been back to the room yet, not since saying that he was going to go soak in one of the springs. Naruto looked at the clock. That was an hour ago. The blond groaned and sat up. A bath did sound pretty good right now. He swung his legs over the side of the bed just as Sasuke opened the door to the room.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up.

Sasuke walked over and stood in front of the blond, staring him straight in the eyes.

"S-Sasuke? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, stepping back nervously.

Sasuke didn't answer but instead pushed Naruto back on the bed and straddled him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto squirmed and tried to push Sasuke off, but the brunette teen was too heavy and plus where he was sitting on the blond's body prevented excessive movement.

Naruto's struggle was cut short when Sasuke bent down and pushed his lips to Naruto's. The blond let out a little squeak of surprise and shook his head until Sasuke lifted his.

"Sasuke, we can't do this! You know that!"

Sasuke frowned. "Why not?"

Naruto sighed. "Because! You know that me and Itachi are together! This wouldn't be right. He's your brother!"

"He's no brother of mine," Sasuke replied, bending down and engaging Naruto in another kiss that couldn't be so easily broken.

Naruto squirmed beneath the brunette and tried to break loose. He had no idea what had gotten into Sasuke but it was not good…not because Sasuke was attempting to make out with him, but because he was starting to enjoy it. Ever since that dream he had had about him and Sasuke, Naruto had occasionally thought about how that would turn out in real life…if they ever got around to doing something like that. And the way things were going, that was going to be very soon.

Naruto opened his eyes as he felt Sasuke pull away and saw the brunette smirking. "What?" the blond asked.

"So you _are_ enjoying this," Sasuke replied.

"How would you know something like that?" Naruto retorted. He gasped as Sasuke reached a hand back and grabbed the bulge forming in the blond's pants.

"_That's_ how I know," Sasuke answered. Then, losing his smile, he stared into Naruto's eyes again. "Naruto…do you really not like me anymore?"

"Of course I like you!" Naruto snapped. "You'd have to be an idiot not to see that! Ah!" Naruto's eyes widened in realization of what he just said and he quickly turned his head to the side.

Sasuke laughed in surprise. "I didn't realize you felt so strongly."

"Well, I do," Naruto mumbled. "But just because I do doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon Itachi just because you turn me on a bit."

"A bit?"

"Okay, maybe a little more," Naruto admitted, "but that's not the point. My point is Itachi's your brother and I'm your brother's boyfriend. Me doing anything like this with you wouldn't be right at all."

"Maybe it wouldn't be right," Sasuke whispered, leaning close, "but you still want it."

Naruto stiffened and looked at Sasuke's face. The brunette was still staring at him, but his eyes weren't holding their usual sarcastic gleam. They looked more pained…desperate even. And in seeing that, Naruto couldn't help but relax and sigh in defeat. "Sasuke…Kami, I'm gonna kill myself for this later."

Sasuke smiled and pressed his lips against Naruto's again. This time Naruto surrendered and returned the kiss, parting his lips and sticking his tongue into Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke chuckled and leaned back. "So making out with my brother taught you something after all."

"Sasuke, do you want me to do this or not?" Naruto asked, feeling a little annoyed.

Sasuke's smiled evaporated. "I'm just joking, Naruto. I didn't mean anything too bad."

Naruto sighed and turned his head to the side. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"You said that before," Sasuke said, pouting a bit.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto said. "That's because…well…I just don't feel like doing it for one."

"What else is it?" Sasuke asked, rolling off of Naruto and looking at the blond intently.

"You know what it is," Naruto responded turning his head and meeting Sasuke's eyes. "I love your brother."

"No you _think_ you love him," Sasuke said back. There was no way he was letting Naruto get away this time…not after coming as close as he had tonight. Sasuke was not letting go without a fight. "Have you guys even done anything like this yet?"

"Sasuke, love has nothing to do with sex!!" Sasuke just looked away. Naruto took a deep, calming breath and controlling his anger he said, "Sasuke, you're one of my best friends. If I didn't have Itachi I would probably end up with you, you realize that, I know you do. But, right now, I think of you as nothing more than a brother, and if you're not going to respect that then I want nothing more to do with you."

Sasuke lied in shock as Naruto hopped off of the bed and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Once again he had managed to put his foot in his mouth and get the blond mad at him. But he just couldn't help it. He _had_ to have Naruto, he just _had_ to. But how? Sasuke sighed and got up, plopping onto his own bed as soon as he reached it. _'But how am I going to win him over?'_

***

Naruto stood in front of Itachi's door, one hand hovering in the air as the blond tried to decide whether he should knock on the door or not. He finally sighed and lowered his hand. "Man…" he mumbled and slid down to the floor.

The door suddenly opened and a shirtless and very sleepy-looking Itachi walked out of the room. The brunette looked around confused for a moment then turned around, spotting Naruto on the floor behind the door. "Oh, it's you. I thought I heard someone snooping around out here."

Naruto looked up at Itachi then turned away. The humor in the brunette's eyes suddenly vanished and he leaned down in front of Naruto. "What's wrong?" he asked, scratching the blond's head.

Naruto shook his head until Itachi took away his hand then looked up into his dark eyes. "Sasuke's being a jerk again."

Itachi smiled and sat down completely. "What else is new?" he sighed.

Naruto sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

Itachi slid to Naruto's side and put an arm around his drooping shoulders. "It's okay, Naru-kun. Now, what did Sasuke do?"

"Promise you won't get mad?" Naruto asked, giving Itachi a pitiful blue eyed stare.

Itachi sighed. "Fine, I promise. But if it's super bad, you can't stop me from hating his guts for all eternity." He let out a mild chuckle which died as soon as Naruto guiltily looked to the side and pulled his knees closer to his body. "That bad, huh?" Itachi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Do you really wanna know?"

"Not particularly," Itachi admitted. "Not because I don't care or anything like that. I'm just afraid that if I get to angry I'll end up doing something I'll regret."

Naruto looked down again. "Please don't," he begged. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

Itachi laughed. "I won't get in trouble."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Supremely promise?"

"Supremely promise," Itachi repeated with a smile.

"Absolutely super duper promise?"

"Are you going to keep me up all night with these ridiculous promises?" Itachi laughed.

Naruto looked up at him and smiled. "Just making sure my boyfriend won't hate his brother's guts all the way to prison."

Itachi sighed. "I won't go to prison. Now aren't you tired?"

The light dimmed in Naruto's eyes and he looked across the hall at his room's door. "Yeah, but I don't wanna go back there."

Itachi was quiet for a moment then stood up. Naruto looked up at him questioningly. "Come on, then," Itachi told him. "Let's go to bed."

Naruto stared up at Itachi in shock for a moment then nodded and jumped up. "Okay!"

***

Naruto shivered awake the next morning and was greeted by the faint dawn light. The blond moaned and rolled over, gasping lightly as he realized he was not the only one in the bed. He looked up surprised, then calmed when he realized that the other body in the bed was a sound asleep, lightly snoring Itachi. Naruto smiled as he looked at his boyfriend's face. _'He looks so peaceful,'_ he thought. _'It's hard to believe that Sasuke hates someone like this…'_ The sudden thought of Sasuke caused a sharp ache in his heart and he groaned in frustration then pushed himself against Itachi's warm body and calmed himself by concentrating on the brunette's rhythmic breaths. After about five minutes though, Naruto completely relaxed and fell back to sleep, his face still pressed against Itachi's chest.

Moments later, Itachi woke up as well. He looked down and smiled warmly when he saw the contentness of the blond's face. He sighed then wrapped his arms around Naruto, lying his chin on top of the messy blond mop. The brunette was merely a few seconds from sleep when his cell phone vibrated from its place on the dresser. Irritated, Itachi slowly got up, gently maneuvering himself away from the sleeping blond and answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Itachi? It's Kisame."

"Kisame? Don't you know what time it is?"

"I'm aware of that Itachi, but this is important."

"What in the world could be so important that you have to wake me up at 6:30 in the morning while I'm on _vacation_?" Itachi yawned, glancing at the clock.

"Vacation? You're at a hot spring with a bunch of—you know what? No, I'm getting off subject."

Itachi sighed and rolled his eyes. "What's the hell's the matter with you?"

"You remember that, uh, 'friend' of your dad's that used to come over when we were all little?"

Itachi frowned. "Yeah…he went to prison on counts of burglary, I think, right?"

"Well…yeah, that's what Uncle Fugaku told us." Kisame said, an uneasy edge to his voice.

Itachi noticed this. "Are you calling my father a liar?"

"No, no!" Kisame quickly defended himself. "Just…well, turn on your television to Channel 4."

Itachi hesitated but did what his friend asked and switched on the television and changed it to the local news. _"And in other news,"_ a young newswoman was saying, _"known burglar and child molester Orochimaru Ryosuke has been released from prison on counts of good behavior. Ryosuke served 15 years in prison after allegedly molesting a 7 year old boy from this neighborhood." _Itachi gasped as the screen flashed to a residential area. "That's our old town," he nearly whispered.

"Yeah, I know," Kisame agreed from the other end. "Just keep watching, it gets better."

Itachi swallowed nervously and turned his full attention back to the television. _"All that is known about the boy is that he was, as before mentioned, seven years old at the time of the crime and was a soon to be older brother. No other information has been disclosed as to protect the identity of the family involved. Now on other news…"_

Itachi stared blankly at the TV screen, nearly letting the phone slip out of his hand.

"Itachi? Itachi!"

Itachi quickly recovered and held the phone back to his ear. "Yeah?"

"That little boy was you, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Itachi asked quietly.

"I remember when we were little, you always complained about how Uncle Fugaku's friend treated you whenever your parents weren't around. Of course, we didn't say anything about it, I mean we _were_ only like seven, but still…Aunt Mikoto would've been about nine months pregnant with Sasuke when Orochimaru was put in jail."

Itachi sat and listened quietly until Kisame finished then sighed. "Yes, it was me."

"Why didn't you say anything to your parents?" Kisame asked, a big brother tone to his voice.

"They wouldn't have believed me. Anyway, Mom and Dad are dead and Sasuke hates my guts so why should his release bother me at all?"

"Because, Itachi, you now have two minors in your temporary care: your boyfriend and your baby brother."

"And?"

"And…we got an e-mail on the band's website."

"An e-mail?" Itachi repeated.

"Yeah, hang on let me bring it up." There was a bit of silence from the other end, then Kisame sighed. "Okay here it is. _'Akatsuki, it's been a long time. Too long. You guys have all grown up so fast. I've watched you from the other side of life for at least 15 years now. Good thing they let me out, I can't wait to see the naïve little boy that looked up to me so much those many years ago. When we meet again, we will definitely 'Rock This Town'. Ta-ta for now.'_ And it ends."

Itachi's body froze and the phone fell out of his hand thudding lightly on the floor. "Itachi?" Kisame's worried voice called, but the brunette didn't even hear. "Oh damn, oh damn," he muttered, getting up from the bed and pacing nervously. "This is the worst frickin' thing that could happen."

"Itachi!"

The brunette looked down at the floor and picked up his phone again. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You absolutely can_not_ let those boys out of your sight."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that? Sure, Naruto is willing enough to listen to whatever I have to say, but Sasuke, as I mentioned before HATES MY GUTS! He won't listen to a single thing I tell him."

"Can't you convince him? Why the hell does he hate you so much anyway?"

Itachi was quiet for a moment then sighed, plopping into an armchair in the corner. "He hates me because…"

"Because _why?!_" Kisame pressed.

"Do you wanna know or not?!" Itachi snapped.

"Okay, okay, sorry."

Itachi sighed. "He hates me because I let him get hurt…_I_ hurt him…"

"What are you talking about?" Kisame asked with a small laugh. "Big brothers pick on little siblings all the time. It's their job—"

"NO!" Itachi broke in. "No…you don't understand…After the…ordeal with Orochimaru, I withdrew myself from everyone. I felt confused, violated…I didn't want to live. The reason I picked on Sasuke so much when we were little was because making him feel bad made me feel good in return. And then…when we were at home…" Itachi broke off.

"Itachi?" Kisame called gently.

Itachi turned his head to make sure Naruto was still asleep then took a deep breath. "When we were at home by ourselves I beat my little brother."

"What?"

"You have to remember…All those bruises and cuts that supposedly happened when he was playing outside…I did that…I told him that if he ever told anyone what I did to him…I'd kill him."

"You're serious?" Kisame asked softly.

Itachi hesitated briefly before answering. "Yes. And I regret it horribly now…you don't know how bad I wish I could just change the past and be the loving big brother Sasuke deserved…I was so awful…" he broke off and covered his face with his hand.

"Itachi," Kisame started, "what's done is done. What matters now is the safety of the two boys that you treasure the most."

"You sound like a freakin' monk…" Itachi told him amused.

"Ah, well someone needs take care of you every once in a while," Kisame laughed. "Well, I better get to sleep. Dawn approaches."

"Akatsuki never rests even apart, eh?"

Kisame chuckled lightly. "You got it! Night, Itachi."

"Night, Kisame," Itachi told his best friend before closing his phone. He sighed and dropped his hands into his lap then glanced at the TV again. This trip was supposed to be fun. Itachi spending time with his beloved boyfriend while occasionally picking on the brother that he so desperately wanted to tie things up with…But now, with Orochimaru on the loose once again, Itachi now had to work even harder to keep the two boys safe. Kisame was right: the two minors _were_ in his care…and there was nothing that was going to change that.


	10. Past Revealed

*****okay, plz don't hurt me! i just started college this fall and i have that and work and everything else to do! and yet i still find time to update this...somehow lol. anyway, chappie 10 is _finally_ up so enjoy! (even tho i think it's not my best work...)*****

**Chapter 10: Past Revealed****  
**

Naruto woke up to a cold, empty bed. He sat up nervously and looked around. This was Itachi's room, but…where was Itachi? "Ita-san?" he called gently. The door to the bathroom suddenly swung open and Itachi walked out with one towel around his body and another in his hands as he dried his hair. "Hm? Oh, hey, sleeping beauty."

"Hey," Naruto greeted him happily, sitting on his knees. "Thanks for letting me sleep with you."

Itachi laughed and kissed Naruto on the forehead. "No problem, little buddy. You ready for breakfast?"

"Am I ever!" the blond exclaimed, jumping off the bed and dashing for the door.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Itachi said, grabbing Naruto around the waist and turning him toward the bathroom. "Shower first."

"Aw…Itachi…"

"Go on, the longer it takes you, the longer you'll have to wait for breakfast."

Naruto mumbled something under his breath, but trudged to the bathroom nonetheless. Before he closed the door, he stuck his head back out. "Hey, Ita-san? Will you go get me some clothes from my room?"

"Of course," Itachi replied, pulling on a shirt. "I better hear that water running when I get back."

"Yes, _mother_," Naruto told him before closing the door.

Itachi smiled then sighed as he pulled on a pair of jeans. "Time to go see baby brother…"

***

Sasuke sat on his bed and stared at nothing. He had been able to sleep a little bit, but it was hardly enough for him to be fully rested. Naruto hadn't come back all night and Sasuke could understand why. How would he like it if his best friend had forced himself on him? Okay, his best friend was Naruto so he would've liked it, but still. A knock on his door drug him out of his thoughts and he dashed to the door. "It's about time, dobe," he said as he opened the door…then stopped. "What the hell do you want?"

Itachi stood in the door with a slight smirk on his face. "Naruto's taking a shower, but he forgot to get his clothes."

"Yeah, I bet," Sasuke said doubtfully, moving back as Itachi walked in past him.

"No, I'm serious," Itachi told him, unzipping Naruto's huge red bag. "He came to my room after you chased him off…moron."

"Don't come into my room and call me names, you—"

"Sasuke, cut it out," Itachi cut him off as he stood up with a bundle of clothes in his arms. "I'm only saying you should be nicer to the kid. The way you treat him is like…like…"

"Like what?" Sasuke retorted. "The way you treated me with we were little?!"

Itachi literally flinched at his brother's words and he looked away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that strike a nerve?" Sasuke asked coldly. "It should considering the way you beat me mercilessly every day while our parents were away!"

Itachi closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Your 'I'm sorry' is too late. Fifteen years too late."

Itachi sighed.

"What, you have something to say? An insult maybe?"

"I'm not going to fight with you, Sasuke," Itachi responded softly as he walked to the door. "I said I was sorry…if you won't take that, it's not on me anymore."

"Not on you?" Sasuke yelled at Itachi's back. "It's always been on you! Ever since that first day!"

Itachi sighed again and closed the door behind him. _'I knew doing this was a bad idea…'_ he thought before letting himself into his own room. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the water running from the bathroom and sat on his bed.

Sasuke was right…It _was_ always on him. Everything was. He shouldn't have ever raised a fist to his brother…but on the other hand, the fault was Orochimaru's. Taking advantage of a young boy for his own personal pleasure was just as bad, if not worse. _'Well,'_ Itachi thought, _'at least it wasn't Sasuke…'_

The bathroom door swung open and a towel covered Naruto bounded out and tackled Itachi on the bed. "I'm all clean! Can we go get breakfast now?"

Itachi laughed lightly. "Are you sure you wanna go down there naked?"

"Of course not!" Naruto told him, lifting himself up looking into Itachi's face. "You have my clothes right?"

"Well, actually," Itachi started, "I went to get your clothes and it seems Kiba let Akamaru out and the dog shredded all of your stuff…"

"What?!" Naruto cried. "That stupid dog!" He stopped when Itachi started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Haha, nothing," Itachi said. "Now let me up so I can give you your clothes."

"You big liar pants!!" Naruto said, getting up. "You're so mean."

"I'm not mean. I just love seeing your expression when you get mad."

"That's mean!" Naruto told him.

"I'd say it's more playful banter," Itachi chuckled, handing Naruto the bundle of clothes.

"It's still mean," Naruto grumbled.

Itachi chuckled and sat up. "You'll forgive me," he told the blond.

Naruto looked at him with a raised eyebrow then looked away and let his towel fall to the ground. Itachi stared blankly at the small tan form in front of him as Naruto slowly pulled on first his underwear, then his pants, and finally his shirt. The blond looked over at the gaping brunette. "What?"

"You got dressed in front of me," Itachi managed to choke out.

"Oh," Naruto giggled. "That's all. I thought I had like a spider crawling on me or something.

"What do you mean that's all?" Itachi asked him, slowing regaining his composure. Only Naruto could make him go blank like that and Itachi was pretty sure the blond knew it as well. "Last time you practically ran away from me just so you could put on a shirt and a pair of jeans! And that was only yesterday!!!"

"Chill out, Ita-san," Naruto told him, unable to hold in a snicker. He shook his head to get the excess water out of his hair then looked at his boyfriend. "Can we go get food now? _Please_?"

Itachi sighed and hid his face in his hand. "Yes, Naruto, we can go get food now."

"Sweet!" Naruto ran over and pulled Itachi to his feet before dragging the older man out of the room and down the stairs. Once in the lobby, Naruto saw the same buffet as the day before lain out in front of everyday. "This is so great!" he yelled, hugging Itachi tightly.

Itachi gently pushed him off. "Be careful, Naru-kun," he told the hyperactive blond. "We don't want anyone getting any ideas."

"But the ideas would be right," Naruto said, pouting. "I wanna hug you whenever I want."

"And you can," Itachi told him. "Just don't be too affectionate."

"Yeah, you wouldn't anyone to know you sleep together." Itachi and Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke glaring at them. "After all, that would cause all sorts of problems, wouldn't it, big brother?"

"Sasuke, don't start," Itachi told him, rolling his eyes. "I told you I'm not going to fight with you."

"Fine," Sasuke said. "But I'm sure Naruto would _love_ to hear about our wonderful childhood."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Sasuke…" he said warningly.

"Sasuke, what're you talking about?" He didn't receive an answer, though, because Itachi moved in front of him, blocking his line of vision. "Itachi?"

"Sasuke, keep you mouth shut," Itachi commanded coolly.

Naruto flinched slightly and looked up at the brunette in front of him. He had never seen Itachi so angry before. It seemed like the older guy would jump on his brother and rip him to shreds without a moment's hesitation…and that's what frightened him. The blond quickly grabbed onto Itachi's arm and pulled back. "Itachi, don't. Let's go."

Itachi glared at his brother a moment longer then looked down at Naruto. "Fine. Let's go."

Sasuke watched them go, disappointment overcoming him. He had wanted to rat out his brother for the bastard he was and yet Naruto stopped him. This definitely was not going the way he wanted. "He will find out, Itachi!" he called to their backs.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke, a look of annoyance on his face then turned his attention to Itachi and pressed his side to him. Itachi looked down at Naruto and, behind his back, flipped Sasuke off. _'I'd like to see you try,' _Itachi thought. _'__I'm not going to let you take him back that easily.'_

***

Naruto sat on Itachi's bed in silence and stared at Itachi. The brunette was sitting in the armchair, staring blankly at the television. Ever since the run-in with Sasuke earlier that afternoon, Itachi had been absolutely silent except for an occasional sigh. The blond finally got tired of the quiet. "Come on, Itachi!" he called. The brunette looked up at him in surprise as if he had forgotten that Naruto was there in the first place. The blond pushed that thought aside and grinned. "Let's go in the hot spring!"

"The hot spring?" Itachi repeated.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "We've been here for three days and we haven't been in the hot spring once. Now let's go!"

Itachi smiled and sighed. "Fine, fine, we'll go. I'd be crazy to pass up the chance to see you naked," he added with a smirk.

Naruto blushed immediately and turned away. "Is that all you ever think about?" he mumbled.

Itachi stood up and walked over to the blond then wrapped his arms around his waist. "Of course not, kitsune. But I do think about _you_ in general quite a bit."

"Nice to know," Naruto said, moving out of his arms.

"You're not mad, are you?" Itachi asked, pouting slightly. He hadn't meant to offend him, he was just telling the truth. He _did_ think about Naruto all the time, whether it was consciously or not.

"No, I'm not mad," Naruto said, breaking Itachi's thoughts. "I'm actually really happy." He turned around and flashed Itachi a smile. "Now let's go to the hot springs."

Itachi laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair. "You know, I just don't get you sometimes."

Naruto looked up at him and grinned widely. "That's what Iruka tells me all the time!"

Itachi sighed and placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "All right, let's go."

The two of them walked down the stairs, through the lobby, and finally arrived at the changing rooms next to the hot springs. Naruto began to walk into one of them, but stopped when he realized Itachi wasn't following. "Hey, aren't you coming?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid I'll rape you or something?" he asked seriously.

"It's not rape if it's willing, you know," Naruto told him casually before walking through the doorway. "Now come on! I wanna go in."

Itachi stared dumbstruck at where the blond was just standing. Not rape if it's _willing_?! If that was what Naruto truly thought, then he wouldn't protest if Itachi tried…right? Well, there was only one way to find out, so Itachi merely followed Naruto through the door and into the nearest changing room.

Right away, Naruto began stripping starting with his shirt, then his pants, then finally…He stopped and looked up at Itachi who was trying unsuccessfully to hide the hunger in his eyes. Naruto felt a little spark of evil edge him on so he smirked and stood straight up. "You know," he said seductively, catching Itachi's attention. "Being alone in a changing room with a grown man could be…dangerous."

Itachi's eyes widened. Oh, this was not happening. Naruto was intentionally _tempting_ him! _'This may not end well,'_ Itachi said silently.

Naruto noticed the slight change on Itachi's face and giggled inwardly. This was going to be easier than he thought. The blond then wrapped his arms around himself and slowly began rubbing his body, first starting at his shoulders, then his arms, his chest, stomach, never once taking his eyes off of Itachi. He finally reached the band of his boxers and stopped to observe Itachi's reaction.

The brunette was staring, completely entranced, and unable to take his eyes away from the tan figure in front of him.

Naruto smiled. He wasn't doing half bad for his first time! _'Okay,'_ he mentally sighed. _'Let's do this.'_ The blond inserted his thumbs under the band and, ever so slowly, began pulling down.

Itachi continued to stare and unconsciously licked his lips. "Naruto…" he said in a warning voice although the shaking took some of the authoritive tone out of it.

Naruto ignored him and continued to pull down on the edge of his boxers. His hips were now fully exposed and still even more flesh was appearing.

Itachi gulped. He could now see the very spot where Naruto's penis attached to his body. If the blond went any further, Itachi might not be able to control himself. Naruto, however, seemed to want this, as he continued his little strip tease and finally he dropped his boxers on the floor, revealing everything.

Itachi shivered. "Naruto, the…the towel's that…" Naruto easily cut him off and pressed his now naked body against Itachi's fully clothed one.

"Oh, this won't do," Naruto said softly, a seductive edge still lacing his voice. "How are we supposed to make this work if you won't cooperate and undress, too?"

Itachi whimpered inwardly as Naruto slowly began unbuttoning his shirt. His breathing increased drastically. _'I have to stop him,' _he thought. _'If he goes any further…"_ His thoughts and will were destroyed when his shirt fell delicately off his shoulders and landed on the floor. Naruto had followed it with his eyes and now looked back up at Itachi's sweating face with a cutely raised eyebrow. "One down," he said.

Itachi whimpered again, this time out loud. Naruto then stuck one of his hands behind the band of Itachi's jeans and unbuttoned them with the other. He smiled when he saw the quite intense bulge hiding behind Itachi's boxers. If he was this turned on already, then the next part would definitely make his resolve vanish completely. Naruto slid his thumbs into both sides of Itachi's jeans and pulled them down a bit quicker than he had taken off his shirt…and that was only because undressing Itachi was giving Naruto a serious bulge of his own that would very soon need to be satisfied. The blond then slid his hands into Itachi's boxers and gently began stroking the throbbing member.

Itachi moaned lightly and leaned his head against the wall. There was absolutely no way he could stop Naruto…not now. It was far too late. He exhaled sharply when cold air suddenly washed over him and when he looked down he could see why: Naruto had taken the opportunity to almost quite literally, rip Itachi's boxers off. The brunette's breathing increased again as Naruto got on his knees in front of Itachi, holding his hard cock in his small, slightly cool hands.

Naruto looked up at Itachi, uncertainty in his eyes. He had gotten this far, but stripping and actually engaging in this kind of thing were two totally different things! At least, in a way. Naruto took in a shaky breath and decided to just test his boyfriend to see if he could actually go on with it.

Itachi moaned again as Naruto began slowly, gently stroking him. He shuddered in pleasure every time the blond hit the tip, causing Naruto to smile and feel a little bit more confident in his abilities. _'Time to kick this up,'_ he decided. He leaned forward and playfully flicked his tongue over Itachi's tip, curious to see his reaction. Itachi's breathing hitched and increased again. So this time, Naruto opened his mouth slightly and took only the entire tip into his mouth. Well, this seemed to have a greater reaction as Itachi gasped lightly and began to tangle his fingers in Naruto's hair.

Naruto giggled. Sure, he had never done this before, but by the way things were going, he couldn't have been failing miserably…and plus, it was kinda fun. Naruto then decided he was tired of playing and took as much of Itachi as he could into his mouth.

This _really_ got to the brunette and he let out a louder moan and pushed Naruto's head toward him, forcing the blond to swallow the pre-cum that was deposited into his mouth.

Naruto let out a small moan of his own, partly in pleasure and partly because the bulge in his own pants was steadily getting harder and harder to deal with. When the blond actually decided to just relax, he found that every action was entirely guided by pure instinct, nothing more. _'And I call myself a virgin…'_ he thought.

Finally, Itachi got irritated himself and pushed Naruto away from his body. Naruto looked up at him in shock. "Ita-san?"

Itachi didn't reply but instead took hold of Naruto's shoulders, turned him around, and pressed the blond against the wall. Naruto moaned as he felt the hot organ nearing his opening. He began panting as Itachi pushed his body against his own and soon he felt Itachi's hot breath on his neck.

"I tried to tell you, Naruto," he whispered against the blond's skin. "You tempted me _way_ too far…"

Naruto tried to respond, but found that his voice was suddenly not cooperating with him. Instead, all that came out was a whimper of mixed feelings. Itachi, almost completely controlled by lust alone, began kissing and biting (no, not nipping. He's in horn-dog mode) Naruto's neck, leaving small red indentions wherever his mouth left.

Naruto was panting harder now. Okay, it may have hurt a tiny bit, but any pain that may have been felt was overcome by pure pleasure. Naruto suddenly heard a noise from outside the changing room and opened his eyes slightly. "I-Ita-san…" he whispered.

Itachi ignored him and continued with his treatment.

Naruto shuddered when the brunette hit a particularly soft spot and tried to push away. "Ita-san, really, I think someone's coming."

Itachi's response was merely to push his body against Naruto's once again, shoving Naruto a little roughly back against the wall. The blond let small yelp and turned around in Itachi's arms. "Itachi, stop!" he said. This was getting way out of hand. Sure, it was fun at first, but now it seemed as if Itachi was running on nothing but lust alone, not even caring if he hurt his younger boyfriend…or if anyone saw them.

Naruto gasped when he heard the door to the changing room open. Apparently, Itachi heard it, too, because he stopped, mid-kiss, and looked up. Naruto took the opportunity to push Itachi away, causing the brunette to look at him confused.

"Naruto?" he said softly.

Naruto put his finger over his mouth and looked out of the crack of the changing stall door. Moments later, he saw someone walk in, and he groaned. "Oh no," he whispered. "It's Sasuke."

This seemed to snap Itachi out of his craziness and he looked up. "What?!"

"Sh!" Naruto commanded. "This is all your fault! You got out of hand and he heard us!"

"Me?!" Itachi retorted. "_You_ were the one who started it. What with the whole strip show you were putting on!"

"Don't try to blame this on me!" Naruto yelled back, forgetting to keep his voice down. "You're the older person, you should've stopped me, not just give in to a kid's advances!"

"Advances?" came Sasuke's voice from behind them. Naruto and Itachi both looked up, shocked. Sasuke stood, leaning against the stall with a raised eyebrow. "So, Naruto, this is your doing," he said casually.

Naruto just stared at him, dumbstruck.

Sasuke nodded to himself then stood straight up. "So you were the one to advance," he said again, walking over to stand in front of Naruto. He looked over at Itachi. "You just gave in? Hm…that's interesting. Especially since Itachi was _always_ the one to take the initiative. Even when we were little."

"Sasuke!" Itachi yelled suddenly. "No!"

Naruto just looked up at Itachi then back at Sasuke. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?" This subject had been brought up before, but then, Itachi had prevented Sasuke from saying anything. Itachi was hiding something, and now it was time to find out the truth. "Tell me."

Itachi swung his eyes from his brother to Naruto. "Naruto!"

Naruto turned and glared at Itachi. "I want to know," he said sternly. "Now. Why do you two hate each other so much?"

"Well, if you want the truth," Sasuke started, closing his eyes and smirking, "I suppose I have to tell you." He opened his eyes again and looked straight into Naruto's blue eyes. "When we were little, something…bad happened to Itachi. He went from being a kind, caring brother to being a complete and utter douche bag. "

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke!" Itachi warned again. "Don't!"

"Ever since his little accident, when our parents happened to leave the house, Itachi would violently beat me for no reason at all. Continuously. Then when they came home, he would tell them that I was being careless and fell out of a tree or something. Whatever was convenient for him at the time."

Naruto's eyes widened. There was no way Itachi could have been like that! He was gentle and kind and cared deeply about his friends…right? Then he flashed only moments back when Itachi had violently held him against the wall. Maybe he really _could_ have been like that…but was it possible? Naruto just continued to stare at Sasuke. Finally, he turned his attention to Itachi. "Is that true?" he whispered. Itachi looked to the side guiltily. "Answer me!" Naruto cried, but he already knew the answer. Ever word Sasuke spoke was true. "Why, Itachi?"

"I was young," Itachi explained. "I didn't know what I was doing!"

"Liar!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled together. Itachi stared at them, shocked.

"Brothers are supposed to love each other!" Naruto yelled, his eyes beginning to cloud with tears. "There are so many people who just wish they _had_ a brother in the first place! And you abused yours! _I_ wanted a brother!"

Both Uchihas looked at him curiously. "When I first met you guys, I didn't know anything about you, but over time I began to think of you as my family. Sasuke, I always thought of you as a brother to me, no matter what happened. And, Itachi, even though you're my boyfriend you were always _my _big brother _as well as_ _Sasuke's!_"

Itachi couldn't find any words. He just stared. There was nothing he could say that would change what Naruto now knew. "Naruto…" he said softly as he reached toward him. He lowered his hand when Naruto flinched away. "Don't touch me. I don't want anything more to do with you." Then he turned to Sasuke and glared at him as well. "And you're just as bad. I never want to speak to either of you again!"

Both Uchihas watched as Naruto threw his clothes back on and stomped out of the changing area and slammed the door behind him. Only one thought crossed both of their minds: _'This time…I've truly lost him…'_


	11. Making Up

**~heyyy~! wow i suck! lol...exactly how long has it been since i updated this story? yeah, even i don't even know. i suppose college and pulling a cross country move has had something to do with the lack of update, but yeah. that and i'm getting really, really bad writer's block on this story...prolly has something to do with the kingdom hearts obsession i have right now ^^; anyway, enjoy! yes, it's a short chapter, and i hate it, but it's gonna have to do until i get some real inspiration and get moving on this...damn i need to bring in the lemons...like bad -_-;**

**Chapter 11: Making Up  
**

Sasuke and Itachi sat on the benches outside of the changing room. Naruto had left after his little outburst and neither one of them knew where he went. Naruto wasn't even picking up his cell phone, no matter which one of them called.

Sasuke sighed. "Why the hell's he mad at me?"

Itachi frowned and looked over at his little brother. "Why? Didn't you hear him say that you were no different than me?"

"Tsk, whatever. I'm nothing like you."

"Sasuke, you're _exactly_ like me!" Itachi yelled, finally losing his patience. "Can't you see that? The way you told him about our past is no different than me hitting you."

"What are you talking about?"

Itachi sighed in annoyance. "Nevermind. How'd you find out anyway?"

"I got a text message," Sasuke answered.

"A text message?" Itachi repeated. The only one who knew Sasuke's phone number as well as their past was Kisame, but he was Itachi's best friend. There was no way he would rat out what happened with Orochimaru…would he?

"Yeah, text message. I didn't recognize the number, but I decided to open it anyway. It said that if I wanted to know the truth to watch the Channel 4 News. I watched the story and saw our neighborhood."

"That could've been anyone," Itachi mumbled.

"No, it couldn't have," Sasuke said back. "I texted them back asking what it was I was supposed to be looking for. Then I got a reply telling me all about your little…incident. At first I didn't believe any of it, so I decided to call the person texting me so I could at least hear their voice. When they picked up and I demanded their name, they said it was Orochimaru Ryosuke, the guy that just got out of prison. He told me that he was the one that raped you."

"Don't say raped," Itachi said. "It makes it sound worse."

"Itachi, why didn't you ever tell me?"

"What good would it have done?" Itachi mumbled.

"Maybe it would've been different if we talked about it."

"How would it have been different?" Itachi yelled. "It doesn't change what happened to me and it doesn't change what I did to you! What's done is done and now I'm taking hell for it!" He got up and began to stomp away.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke whispered.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry," Sasuke repeated, lifting his head up. "About making Naruto hate you. I was just so mad that he liked you more than me even though…even though I'm always such a jerk to him."

"What you did today _was_ pretty low," Itachi told him, sitting back in his chair.

Sasuke sighed. "I know."

Itachi looked at his brother in confusion. Despite everything in this conversation, the older brother couldn't help but admit that Sasuke looked…_guilty._ "I forgive you," he finally sighed. "After all, I probably would've done the same thing."

"Really?" Sasuke said hopefully.

Itachi smiled. "Yeah." He sighed then turned in his chair. "Come here, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled slightly then scooted forward and hugged his brother. Itachi smiled and hugged him back. This was how brothers should act, and if all was okay now…this was all at Itachi wanted. He sighed and released Sasuke. "I suppose we should tell Naruto that we've settled things now."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah."

The two brothers stood up and, with one final smile at each other, walked out of the changing area. Sasuke was the first one to find Naruto, sitting by himself with his feet dangling in one of the hot springs. "Naruto?" he called softly.

Naruto visibly stiffened and turned his head away from where Sasuke was standing. He didn't want to talk to either of them, he didn't want to be caught in the middle of this ridiculous fight that had nothing to do with him. Okay, maybe he played a small role in the whole thing, but it wasn't his fault…he hadn't asked to be brought into this.

Sasuke sighed at the blond's reluctance to face him. He walked over and sat next to him, sticking his feet in the steaming water as well. "So…" he said, in an attempt to start conversation, knowing very well what the reaction would be. He laughed softly as Naruto confirmed exactly what he thought he would do: he turned his body all the way around and crossed his arms, pouting like a child. "Naruto, I think you should know," Sasuke said. "Itachi and I…we made up, we're not fighting anymore. There were some things that needed explaining and we got our answers…I'm sorry that I hurt you. I never meant to."

Naruto's shoulders trembled a bit and Sasuke leaned forward. "Naruto?" It took him a minute to realize, but when he did, it hit like a kunai in the heart. "Naruto, please don't cry…"

The next thing that happened caught the brunette off guard. Naruto spun around and tackled him to the ground, sobbing, soaking Sasuke's shirt with tears. "Naruto?"

"I…I'm sorry," Naruto sobbed.

"What? Wait a moment, why are you sorry?"

Naruto shook his head and looked up at Sasuke with tear-filled, blue eyes. "I…I don't know! But I feel like I should say sorry!"

Sasuke laughed, he couldn't help it. He burst out into laughter, pulled the stunned blonde into his arms and hugged him tight. "Naruto, you're such a dobe!" he said. "You have no reason to be sorry. I hurt you, Naruto, I know I did. And that's why I'm sorry. You did nothing wrong. When I hurt you, you ran to the next closest person you knew, Itachi….I didn't realize it at first…but you running to him was the motivation I needed to get my act together…I know that from my actions, it seems like just empty talk, Naruto, but I'm being 100% truthful here. I honestly and truly love you…."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke and met his eyes, sadness and joy making them fill with tears again. And without another word, Naruto buried his face into Sasuke's chest and began crying again.

Itachi stood in the doorway and watched, thought clouding his eyes. He had heard every word that Sasuke had told Naruto and, despite what he was trying to fight…he had to let Naruto go. When Sasuke had first caught the two in the changing room, Itachi had seen that behind the glare and tough front that Sasuke was putting on, his younger brother had been ready to break. He had seen the hurt and torment that had clouded his eyes as the younger boy pulled out his last hope and spilt Itachi's past. It was his last act of desperation to get the blond to return to him. And to top it all off, Itachi felt like complete shit. Sure he had feelings for the blond, but the whole reason he took Naruto as his own was to hurt his brother. Itachi had always won everything, always had everything, and the last thing that Sasuke was holding on to, Itachi was taking that from him, too. He said he loved his brother, he told everyone that, but his actions were showing otherwise. Itachi looked over at the two younger boys, still wrapped in each other's arms, then turned away and, heaving a heavy sigh, he walked back to his room.


	12. The Nice Older Brother

_~*Hey all! Yes, I am indeed updating SWF again! After...yeah, I don't even know how long it's been. A while. A year maybe? Okay scratch that. I just checked and it's been almost 2 years since I've updated. Wow. Sorry guys. Guess I got out of my Naruto phase a while ago, and I kinda forgot about this story ^^; But, thanks to narusasu-fan00 and a couple others, I decided to post this chapter. Now, I will admit that it's quite a bit shorter than the others, but I decided I'm going to rewrite the whole story...just to get it flowing better. I've noticed that the story is kinda jumpy and I feel like I'm quite a better writer than I was before, but I digress. Enjoy Chapter 12 and look forward to the revised version!_

_Edit: I just want everyone to know that I'm kinda just typing this story as I go. I know the basics of what I want to happen, but how it gets to that point, even I don't know. I just write whatever seems to flow the best for me and makes the story better, more suspenseful, etc. Please, please, PLEASE, if the story doesn't seem to be turning out the way that YOU want, don't insult the story. I understand everyone has a right to their opinion, but it kinda makes an author upset and reluctant to continue an unfinished story when they're told that it's a "real let down" because it didn't go the way someone else wanted :/ Just wanted to get that off my chest.__*~_

**Chapter 12: The Nice Older Brother**

Naruto sighed as he zipped up his bag. Sasuke looked over at him curiously. "What?" the brunette asked.

Naruto just looked over and shook his head. "I don't wanna go home yet!" he whined. It was true. The hot spring trip went by _way_ too fast for the blond's liking. Well, it _was_ only five days to begin with, but still. There was one good thing that came out of the trip though. The blond looked over at Sasuke who was still staring at him and smiled.

Sasuke frowned slightly in confusion. "What?" he half laughed.

"Nothing," Naruto said, drawing out the word. "Oh, hey! Have you seen your brother anywhere?"

Sasuke looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Nope," he said after a while. "Why?"

"I just think me and him have stuff to talk about…you know…about us."

Sasuke tilted this head slightly as he stared at Naruto then shrugged. "I would check his room. Don't worry about your stuff," he said quickly as Naruto reached out to grab his bag. "I'll take it down myself. Go and talk to Itachi."

"You sure?" Naruto asked, slightly surprised at the lack of reluctance on Sasuke's side.

"Why wouldn't I be sure?" Sasuke asked, giving the blond a smile. "I trust you and he's my brother so go on."

Naruto blinked a couple times before grinning and running out of the room. "I'll be back!" he called over his shoulder. He ran down the hallway then stopped in front of Itachi's door and lifted his hand to knock then stopped. How would Itachi take this? They were breaking up…right? Just like this? All of a sudden? And the reason being…Naruto had moved on to Sasuke. Naruto let his hand drop to the side and stared at the ground. Was this the right thing to do? Dumping one brother on the spot for the other? Naruto's stomach churned as he suddenly realized he didn't want to go through with this.

"If you're going to come in then come in," came Itachi's voice from inside.

Naruto's head shot up in surprise and he fidgeted slightly. "Um…"

"Come inside, Naruto," Itachi said with a sigh.

Naruto turned the doorknob, paused, then pushed the door open and walked inside, closing it behind him. Itachi was lounging in the armchair in front of the TV, flipping through the channels nonchalantly as he stared blankly at the screen. The brunette waved Naruto over with his other hand, never once looking up from the TV screen.

"Um…Itachi…"

"So. You and Sasuke made up huh?" the brunette cut Naruto off without ever taking his eyes away from the television.

Naruto shifted nervously and stared at the floor. "Y-yeah…" This was way too awkward. What all had Itachi seen? Sure, Naruto and Sasuke hadn't done anything, but that still didn't keep the blond from feeling like shit at the moment. Naruto lifted up his head when he heard Itachi sigh as the latter flipped off the TV and stood.

Itachi stretched his arms above his head then made his way over to Naruto. He met the confused, bright blue eyes for a moment before leaning down and kissing Naruto on the lips and lingering for a few seconds before pulling away slightly. The brunette smiled slightly when he saw the slight hint of hurt in Naruto's eyes. "Nothing, huh?" Itachi said. Naruto looked down and shook his head. "Heh," Itachi laughed softly. "Didn't think so." Deep down, Itachi had known that he wouldn't get a reaction by kissing Naruto again. Even though the two of them had been pretty much inseparable since they started dating, Itachi had known all along that his young boyfriend's heart rested with Sasuke. So why wasn't this easier? Why was it so hard to let Naruto go?

"Itachi?" Naruto's light voice caught Itachi's attention again. "Are you okay?"

Itachi smiled down at the blond. "I'm fine, kiddo. I have something for you."

"Wha? For me?" Naruto's depression was quickly forgotten as his eyes lit up. "What'd you get me? Huh? Huh? HUH?"

Itachi laughed as he dug around in his bag that was sitting on the bed. A couple seconds later, he pulled out a tiny square gift. "Here," he said handing it to Naruto. "I dunno if you know this, but uh…today's our two month anniversary. We didn't really celebrate the first since I was so busy with my music so I thought you'd like it…"

A sharp pain went through Naruto's heart as he took the gift. He stared down at it for a moment before looking back up at Itachi.

The brunette shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets, a slight blush coming over his face. "Just open it okay?"

Naruto looked back down at the package in his hand before slowly opening it. "Holy…you got an album!"

Itachi grinned. "Yeah. There was a talent agent at the last place we played at and, uh…we got an album lined up. Heh, that album has all of our demos on it. I figured since you were so close to the band, I'd get you a copy."

Naruto looked up at Itachi and smiled. "Thank you!" he said before throwing his arms around the brunette in a tight hug.

Itachi laughed. "Okay, okay. Get goin', kid. We're leaving in 2 hours."

The blond's face fell and he tightened his grip on Itachi. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Ah geez, Naru-kun. It's fine, okay? Get outta here." For emphasis, the older male turned Naruto around and pushed him out the door. "I'm serious, kiddo. Two hours."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but shut it as the door was closed in front of him. The blond stared at the door for a second longer before smiling and turning around to head back to his room to help with the packing.

Itachi sighed as he leaned against the door of his room. He had been able to pull off his facade quite well, in his opinion, but what he had made Naruto believe couldn't be farther from the truth. The truth was, Itachi was pretty heartbroken. Sure, it had started out as just dating his brother's crush, but over time, he actually had grown to love the blond. But this whole new "caring for his brother" thing that he had decided to do was kinda biting him in the ass.

The brunette let out another sigh and pushed himself off the door and walked over to his bed. He absently stuffed clothes into his bag, not really paying much attention as to how he organized things in it, and groaned in frustration. Being the nice older brother was a pain.


End file.
